Paint My Rose Red
by Lord Kelvin
Summary: Station Square is plagued by a series of disappearances. Sonic doesn't seem to care because all he can think about is Amy. Shadow aims to find out what's wrong with his rival, unaware that by crossing Amy he risks disappearing himself.
1. Paddington Square

Author's note: Yes, I am writing a Sonic fic about vampires and love quadrangles. You can't stop me, but you might as well review when you're done reading.

Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog, related characters and locales are copyright SEGA.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Paddington Square**

Shadow caught himself staring at the night sky again. It started raining, but that didn't make the mission any easier. Stuck in Station Square with an ankle monitor telling GUN of his whereabouts, he felt uncomfortable out in the open.

The locals knew such devices were used to track criminals placed under house arrest, so encountering one on the infamous hedgehog strengthened their confirmation bias. Shadow was a felon who had done nothing good in his lifetime and it was about time the long arm of the law had caught up with him. One false move and he'd be put behind bars like he deserved. The authorities were too kind to him by letting the freak roam the streets.

Few heads would have turned if he was to blame for the recent disappearances. Shadow's mug shot coming up on a MISSING poster would have been a relief.

He could see it in their eyes. Those were the accusatory stares he wished to avoid, and so he seldom left his temporary home in the city. The night out was a compromise; being on probation did not void his responsibilities to others.

Shadow waited for the parking spaces in front of the 24-hour convenience store to vacate before he entered. Personal failure had reduced the secret agent to an errand boy, making him even less open to socialising.

As long as there were no other customers and the purple weasel at the counter remained completely disinterested, Shadow would get to return to the comforting darkness outside in no time.

It felt weird to go about his business like a pedestrian mook. GUN had warned him against using his powers, including super speed, to avoid startling the denizens of Station Square. Shadow considered the restrictions stupid, but so was losing Omega to Eggman. Having suffered a humiliating defeat by the villain's hand, the rest of Team Dark had to lay low and recover. Unfortunately for Shadow, some of the team members didn't have quick healing abilities, making them a burden.

What was he supposed to buy?

Shadow's memory did not escape him, unlike his composure. In theory, he just needed to lift his hand, reach out and…no. He froze on the spot.

What if he picked the wrong kind? Clueless, yet completely focused on the task, he was down to two varieties. Unfortunately, his guard was also down, so he didn't notice someone else enter the store.

"If it isn't Shadow the Hedgehog! Long time no see!" he heard a noise, an annoyingly familiar noise.

Before he knew it, there was a gloved hand on his shoulder. The hand was attached to a blue torso, a temporary inconvenience one Chaos Blast could solve.

He scowled at the punk responsible for the gross violation of his personal space, but the warning went unnoticed. Sonic must have been mooching off chilidog vendors when they were handing the brains out.

Shadow clenched his fist around the handle of his shopping basket. "Get lost, Faker. I'm on a mission."

"Dude, we've barely seen each other since the Black Doom incident."

"I prefer it that way. Pity you broke the trend." He would have no remorse about breaking the blue hedgehog, though.

Sonic took the hint and put up his arms defensively. "Sheesh! Someone's feeling social tonight. What's going on, Shads?"

"I'm on vacation."

"I thought you said you were on a mission."

The dark hedgehog hid his embarrassment behind a snarl. "So you are able to think… I'm on a mission while on vacation. It's called multi-tasking."

Sonic snickered, prompting no reaction from Shadow at first. What was the faker on about?

It hit him when Sonic pointed at Shadow's hand, still reaching out toward the shelf. He should have lowered it…

"A mission to buy pads?" Snickering turned to laughter. "That's hysterical! Hahaha! You're killing me, Shads!"

Gritting teeth, Shadow aimed a punch squarely at Sonic's gut. "Hold that thought."

GUN had asked him to avoid scuffles, but Sonic was a special case and he'd get what was coming to him: a one-way ticket straight to hell. Shadow's knuckles were itching to stop the moronic laughter. Sonic didn't stand a chance against all the pent up anger Shadow harboured.

The impact felt glorious. Shadow's fist moved two inches inwards before it encountered resistance. In his mind, he could visualise Sonic's vomit-inducing contortions, a rightful outcome to his transgression.

In reality, he saw the same stupid muzzle grinning stupidly as it stood behind a pink blur that managed to intercept the hit. Amy Rose, a tardy weakling more insufferable than her male consort, was glaring daggers at him. If it weren't for her iron grip, Shadow would have already shaken her off to double down on Sonic.

She whispered, "You lay one finger on him and your multi-tasking goes to intensive care."

He couldn't free his hand until Amy relaxed her hold, letting him retreat without most of his dignity.

"I don't have the time for this," Shadow muttered as he turned his back on them. It ailed him to be unable to solve the problem with wanton destruction. Doubtless, they'd both mock him now.

That was why he jolted violently when he felt a touch on his side. Rather than berate him, Amy made a peace offering by helping him pick the right pads.

"Take these. They're her favourite."

With a light nod, Shadow threw the pack into his basket and walked straight to the counter, picking up some bandages and a newspaper on his way. The weaselly cashier must have flashed a grin at him while printing the receipt, but Shadow didn't care. He felt so humiliated his flushed gaze was focused on the floor the entire time.

Only when the rain outside cooled his cheeks did he acknowledge it was over. He looked at the small shopping bag in his hand and sighed before withdrawing into the darkness.

"Mission accomplished."

Perfect as always. That's what he would tell Rouge. She didn't need to know about the complications or Shadow losing his temper. Reckless behaviour got Team Dark in this situation and they had much to learn if they expected to reunite. The Ultimate Life Form found it difficult to admit he had to learn anything.

None of this would have happened if he was going solo. Omega would not have been captured, Rouge would not have gotten hurt and Shadow wouldn't have to endure the criminal treatment. He could have completed the mission alone, right?

Shadow looked at his reflection in a puddle of rainwater. His quills drooped from the amount of water they soaked in, making him look like a recolour of Sonic.

He stepped on the reflection. Sonic was the lesser hedgehog, yet everyone preferred him over Shadow. Even now the faker's laughter haunted him, sprinkled between so many of Amy's giggles.

"Hm?" Shadow turned around. It was them, Sonic and Amy.

Outside after midnight? That was highly unusual for Sonic, who'd normally spend the night and most of the day snoring with a snot bubble up his nose. Him not having an allergic reaction to Amy Rose was also unusual. A token of appreciation for saving him from the punch?

The thought sank Shadow's head in shame. It was a powerful blow, so how could a weakling manage to stop it? Either Amy was much stronger than she appeared or Shadow had grown weak during his downtime.

They were heading his way, so he leapt onto an awning to stay out of sight. From his vantage point, he witnessed a conversation he would not have dared to expect.

"It's so sweet of you to follow me to the park, but I can take care of myself," said Amy. She didn't sound like she meant any of it. Her voice had this tonality… Shadow couldn't put his finger on it.

"Let me be your hero one more time. I'll keep you warm in the rain," Sonic replied. What was he smoking?

The two walked underneath the cover Shadow was standing on. Shadow kept perfectly still and held his breath while the pair had the opposite in mind.

Shadow was mortified. He had heard those noises before, but was Sonic the one panting? Shadow wished he had chosen a better hiding spot or possessed Espio's stealth abilities. Curiosity was biting him and he wanted to uncover the mystery before his support would give up on his weight.

Not to gossip in revenge, of course. Getting close and personal with Sonic's own humiliation would suffice.

Amy's giggle interrupted his thoughts. "All right. Just this once. Let's go."

Blue and pink spindashed together to Twinkle Park. Shadow wasn't going to let them get away.

He still had to deliver the goods to Rouge, though. As he pondered the best way to go on about it, the awning caved in, dropping him onto the pavement, next to the puddle. The fuzzy reflection gave him an idea: his minders at GUN were less likely to notice a bit of shenanigans at this hour and Rouge would be happy to have her delivery made first class. Shadow bounced a Chaos Emerald in his hand.

"Chaos Control!"

This was the most frivolous use of the technique so far and Shadow didn't mind that at all. He'd deal with Rouge's reaction to a grocery bag popping out of the rift later. Right now, he had hedgehogs to stalk.


	2. Stalker Park

Author's note: Right. Time to get serious. Try _Something Wicked Lurks _by Two Steps From Hell as a mood setter.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Stalker Park**

They got lost. It was the reasonable conclusion.

Having followed them all the way to Pleasure Castle, Shadow found himself alone in the park's faux wilderness. He had been maintaining a safe distance, so they couldn't have seen him. Shadow was also positive that they hadn't entered the castle. Twinkle Park's rules were reversed at night and couples had to pay handsomely to get in.

Despite being single, Shadow didn't feel like experiencing the castle's hospitality due to his allergy to free lunches. Not that he could stomach a course of Sonic and Amy that he was searching for away from the carnival lights.

The darkness of the night obscured his movements while the rain allowed him to lurk in the shrubbery without alerting anyone's ears. It would take a trained professional to sense his presence.

Which was the reason of his concern: if Shadow managed to blend into the surroundings on his first visit, more sinister things could have found refuge on the outskirts of Twinkle Park. It was the perfect setting for another person to go missing.

The way the shadows swayed in the distance made him feel uneasy. Shadow's spines tensed and straightened out even though the weight of the water was keeping them down. This wasn't a case of paranoia or fear; his body was reacting to a real threat. Very few things threatened the Ultimate Life Form. Chaos powers gave him an unfair advantage over most creatures.

Except those capable of feeding from the same source. Whoever they were, their Chaos footprint would either lure them out of hiding or act as Shadow's lead.

He breathed in the damp chill hanging in the air. As the rainfall subsided, it left a layer of mist to rise from the surface. While it blurred his vision, it also highlighted air currents made by disturbances. As long as there was no wind, anyone passing through would create grooves in an otherwise even sheet of mist.

The hedgehog stopped in his tracks when he spotted such a phenomenon in progress. He would have set chase immediately, but he couldn't see a silhouette cutting through and he was certain a force of nature couldn't change direction as quickly.

Shadow crouched to better examine the turbulence only to be surprised by it turning around and heading his way. He put up his dukes. Even though the phenomenon had a Chaos footprint so weak Shadow could sneeze it away, the fact it possessed Chaos energy in the first place meant he was dealing with a special entity.

It must have realised this because the turbulence darted away as soon as it approached the bushes Shadow was in. The gust of wind caused by the sharp turn strengthened Shadow's suspicion that he was up against something corporeal.

The footprints it left in the mud confirmed the rest. Flat soles, slightly deeper impressions than those left by Shadow's soap shoes. Neither Sonic nor Amy had such footwear.

While he examined the tracks, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched, and not by the disturbance that he had just encountered. The tension in his quills got uncomfortable by that point, reminding him of another presence, yet to be seen.

Twinkle Park wasn't Shadow's home turf, so he decided to get a move on in the direction of the footprints. The light drizzle obfuscated them enough for Shadow to feel confident that any evidence of his visit would disappear by sunrise. Thus far, he had managed to stay out of range of the park's security cameras. With the mist rising from the surface, poor visibility was on his side.

He did not expect the trail to abruptly end in front of a large wisteria tree. Nothing suggested that the footprints' owner jumped to climb it. Shadow sighed, looking for signs of the feet changing direction again. He found long skid marks.

There was another sigh, only it did not belong to Shadow. It came from the tree.

Slowly, Shadow turned around. The sight put a smirk on his face. He found Sonic and Amy.

"Gotcha," he whispered and hunched down to position himself completely under the layer of mist. It wouldn't have been easier if they walked up to him and exposed their secrets outright.

They were sitting close together on one of the gnarled branches. The wisteria tree's purple flowers, hanging down in copious amounts like clusters of grapes, concealed them from view to anyone beyond the breadth of the tree's crown. Overlooking a body of water that separated the tree from the more populated parts of Twinkle Park, it was a hiding spot in plain sight.

The same applied to Shadow. His dark silhouette could not be seen from Sonic and Amy's perch, as they had their backs turned on him. The mist rising to their feet created a visual barrier that would ensure their guard stayed down. Unable to see anyone on the ground level, they were left entirely to themselves.

"Sonic, no…" she complained. "I'm not in the mood."

"Come on, Ames. You know you wanna. Just a little bit," Sonic cooed, ending it with a purr. Shadow had never heard Sonic purr before. It was shudder-worthy.

When the mist went above their feet, Shadow realised that Amy was scared stiff, the noses of her shoes pointing away from Sonic. The blue hedgehog, however, was swinging his feet excitedly. The clouded image above inspired even less confidence in what he was about to do.

Amy was in trouble. Shadow couldn't just sit there and watch. That was his original plan, yes, and he didn't want the backlash of revealing himself after the incident in the convenience store, but he had expected something else entirely.

"Relax. Let it happen," Sonic told her.

The moment he heard Amy whimper in response, the foggiest of the remaining doubts dispersed and Shadow jumped to his feet to give Sonic what was coming to him. This time, Amy was unlikely to interrupt him. He shouldn't have enjoyed that idea as much as he did.

As soon as he entered the mist, he felt a powerful push to the side and his fist going limp. His mind didn't have a chance to process what was going on. By then, he had lost control of his arms and felt a slight stinging sensation near the shoulders.

The turbulence returned and it meant business. Thrust face-first into the mud, Shadow skidded towards a shrub. He could sense the weak Chaos energy signature at an arm's length. Whoever it was, they made a big mistake by underestimating him. Shadow didn't need his fists to end them.

"Chaos-"

"Get down!" his captor ordered and hit him in the back of the head.

Shadow ate a mouthful of dirt instead of serving ruin. Enraged, he writhed to free himself from whomever had the audacity to do this to him. Eyes filled with hate scanned the environment in hope of finding a target sturdy enough to handle a royal beating.

All he could find was Espio. The ninja chameleon materialised in front of him, raising less questions than thoughts of carnage and bloodlust. Shadow choked his disappointment down because he yearned for a meatier opponent.

Espio started with a low bow. He whispered, "Forgive me for the intervention, Shadow. I mean no harm."

Shadow didn't consider forgiveness and he very much wanted to cause harm. Espio could see it from the size of Shadow's pupils, barely affected by the night. At least, the mouth of dirt prevented Shadow from shouting at him.

It didn't prevent Shadow from kicking Espio in the kidneys when he took the risk of helping the hedgehog up.

With the chameleon brought to the ground by the sharp pain, Shadow attempted to clear his throat. It was too dry to get all of the gunk out, but he managed to wheeze out words. He walked around the prone chameleon like a predator, still debating whether one kick was enough. Having been denied release twice in one evening, he didn't feel much gratitude for Espio cancelling the Chaos Blast that Shadow was about to light up the park with.

"My arms. You've three seconds," Shadow said between raspy breaths.

"I interrupted the flow of chi to your arms. It is a temporary precaution."

"What for?" As the feeling of warmth started returning to his fingertips, Shadow clenched a fist and shook it in front of the vulnerable chameleon.

Espio put up his hands defensively. He was still in pain albeit he resisted showing it. "I needed a conscious witness, but I could not allow you to interfere. Weeks of information gathering would have borne no fruit and another person would have been put in danger."

Shadow wanted to clean his face, yet his gloves were dirtier than the rest of him. He licked the inside of his mouth and spat on the ground. The aftertaste remained. Unhappy with the results, he focused back on the chameleon.

"And who would that be?"

"You, Shadow." Espio scowled. "Why are you here at this hour?"

Why was he there? The real answer embarrassed Shadow, so he looked away and snarled to intimidate Espio. "I'm the one asking questions."

The chameleon had the tactfulness not to pursue the sensitive topic. He got up to his feet, realising that Shadow had calmed down enough to fold his arms. Espio nodded as he passed by and invited Shadow to follow him to a hiding spot by the tree.

"Both you and I seek answers. If you promise to observe the events as they unfold, I can guarantee we will both have them in due time."

Espio's didactic tone aside, Shadow figured he would benefit from the company of a ninja who had been tracking Sonic and Amy for a longer while. He wanted to interrogate Espio about his motivations, only the things happening in the tree captivated his attention.

Sonic had stopped swinging his legs. His stature was drooping, the sound of his breath – more disturbing than the wet lapping that Shadow also registered. Amy was also there, clung to Sonic close enough to melt into his silhouette in the mist.

She would have to do better than that if she wanted to prevent Shadow from sensing her. Amy's Chaos footprint was the equivalent of a train as it roared on approach. It eclipsed the blue hedgehog entirely, making his presence more difficult to detect than Espio's. This was unnatural and, to Shadow's surprise, a continuous process. Sonic's connection to Chaos diminished with every heartbeat while Amy's grew stronger.

Puzzled, Shadow glanced at Espio, who merely reiterated the request not to meddle in their affairs. Espio may have known something Shadow was yet to learn, but the chameleon didn't have the sensory abilities to notice they were being watched by something else all this time. The presence that kept Shadow on his toes was still lurking in the darkness. Its energy, acting like a smoke screen, had saturated Twinkle Park, making it impossible for Shadow to pinpoint the entity's location.

It would take hours for the sensory overload to disperse and Shadow would still have a splitting headache in the morning. The lush green area appeared to be toxic to creatures like Shadow. He could only imagine what it was like from Sonic's perspective…

"That's it, Amy," the blue hedgehog whispered. "More. More! Nghh…"

The mixture of pleasure and pain evident in his words paled in comparison to the fatigue that sounded through his breathing. Then, the hedgehog went silent.

Shadow saw Espio shudder. Sonic seemed to twitch, too, as Amy's silhouette reappeared on the branch. Sonic tried to pull her back into an embrace. Disregarding her constant shifting away from him, he kept on shambling towards her.

The situation was giving Shadow conflicting thoughts. Which one of them was in danger? Sonic didn't seem to have enough life in him to threaten anyone, but Amy looked desperate in her attempts to put space between them without hurting him. Her whimpering unnerved Shadow as much as her pleading for Sonic to go away.

In the end, she stopped Sonic's advances with a resounding slap and ran off crying.

This was Shadow's cue. Sonic would answer for whatever he did to Amy. With the girl gone, Shadow no longer had to restrain himself. The hedgehog walked out of the safe spot, to Espio's dismay.

"Shadow! What are you doing?"

"Getting answers. My way."

"Come to your senses!" Espio called. He didn't dare to get out of hiding.

"Hmph. Coward."

Shadow expected better from the ninja. Letting Sonic and Amy muck about in the tree didn't get him any closer to the information he sought and he perceived no danger in approaching the weakened rival.

"You have explaining to do, Faker," he said after leaping onto Sonic's branch.

Sonic didn't react to the threat. Just as Shadow was about to vocalise his irritation, he gave the blue hedgehog a closer look. Sonic was bleeding. There were tiny gashes all over his face and abdomen.

"What…what happened to you?" Shadow asked.

He got a sigh in return. Sonic had this entranced smile on his bleeding face that gave Shadow the creeps.

"Snap out of it!"

Shadow waved a hand in front of Sonic's eyes. Nothing. The blue hedgehog wouldn't even blink. Making noise and shaking him lightly didn't help. He had to take more direct measures. Although the idea delighted Shadow, he preferred doing this to someone fully conscious.

"You can thank me later. This will sting." Shadow presented Sonic an uppercut that got him out of the trance and out of the tree.

Sonic was in for a rude awakening. His legs were too weak to keep him standing upright, so he leaned against the wisteria's trunk and looked around, confused. Shadow found Sonic's expression all too familiar: he was dealing with memory loss. Combined with the physical ailment, it was a pitiful sight. To think this hedgehog mocked Shadow not long ago.

"Huh? What's going on, Shads?" Sonic asked upon spotting his rival. Before he could get a reply, he looked at his body and touched one of the gashes. "Ow-ow-ow. It's like somebody took a razor blade and… Gimme a minute."

Shadow took a step back as Sonic slid to the ground and started shivering. Perhaps, he should have followed Espio's advice. By approaching the sick hedgehog in the open, Shadow exposed himself to the entity that lurked in the shadows.

It was baiting him.


	3. Club Grumpybat

**Chapter 3: Club Grumpybat**

Shadow picked Sonic up unceremoniously and knocked him against the wisteria tree.

"We don't have a minute. Wake up!"

Sonic's eyelids rose for a split second, but they went back down before Shadow got to see his irises.

This was a very bad time to be taking a nap. If Sonic couldn't get the _subtle_ hint, Shadow had to make it _rough_. He put one hand under Sonic's chin and repeatedly smacked him on the side of his face with the other until Sonic retaliated.

The punch was weaker than his swimming record. Shadow resisted smirking at his rival's indignation.

"What's the big idea?!" Sonic yelled.

"That's what I should be asking you. A bit late to be on a date?"

"A date? Whoa, Shads! What are you talking about?"

Shadow pointed at the gashes on Sonic's abdomen and took a step back. He did not expect Sonic to reach the right conclusion.

The expression of shock upon seeing the number of red marks on his front was quick to become an angry grimace. "Oh, you are so dead," Sonic threatened as he lunged at Shadow only to stumble and fall to the ground, short of breath. It had no effect on Sonic's resolve. "Drugging folks, really? Is this what you get off to these days?"

"You know full well I can crush your head like a walnut right now, so you better watch what's coming out of your mouth."

Shadow observed his rival's attempt to stand up again with morbid curiosity. Drugs did cross Shadow's mind at first, but Sonic's disorientation and weakness reminded him of severe blood loss. The cuts on Sonic's body were too small to make him bleed out enough, though. It was as if something drained the hedgehog of more than his fluids.

To keep Sonic from blacking out again, Shadow helped him sit up, using it as a chance to have a closer look at the damage. Sonic's face was covered in scabs, making him look like a bee sting victim.

Sonic clicked his tongue and licked his lips. "It's not raspberry jam."

"Heh. Sounds like you're going to recover." Shadow sighed. Despite being able to wisecrack, Sonic's brain didn't have the keys to unlock some of the hedgehog's memories to his conscious self. "Pity the parts I want are useless right now."

"You…go wanting somebody else's parts. Not interested in you that way."

He shouldn't have said that. He really-really shouldn't have said that after receiving the warning. Shadow was about to act on his words when he heard a high-pitched scream. It was Amy.

Shadow had to check it out. The noise came from a less secluded part of Twinkle Park, which meant he had to leave Sonic alone for a spell. Shadow got just the idea to keep the hedgehog from crawling away.

He punched Sonic in the gut. "Stay put. We'll finish this when I find Amy."

Instead of tensing up from the pain, Sonic smiled and relaxed. "Amy…"

The glassy twinkle in Sonic's unfocused eyes made Shadow certain the blue hedgehog would do as he was told. In fact, it made Shadow want to leave ASAP. Sonic's expression looked unhealthy and Shadow promised himself he'd get to the bottom of this as soon as he found Amy.

He reached a paved path in a dimly lit area, close to where he assumed the scream had come from. Shadow slowed down to examine his surroundings. Amy was close and her Chaos footprint drove Shadow's senses crazy. It was stronger than the time Shadow had seen her flee from Sonic.

If it was any more intense, hers would have eclipsed the signature of the presence that was stalking Shadow. Having assumed a stealthy gait, he realised he'd have to fight first and ask questions later.

A bush separated him from the source. Shadow crouched, waiting for the creature on the other side to make a move. The moment he sensed a change in the energy, he rolled into a ball and buzzsawed through the foliage to catch the wielder off guard.

"Gotcha!" he exclaimed, ready to put his spines to work.

Shadow had burst into a clearing teeming in Chaos energy. There was no one else there.

Confused, he unrolled and walked to the spot where the energy footprint was the strongest. He noticed a red stain on the grass. Shadow brushed his fingertips against it and sniffed. He'd had enough encounters tonight to know it was blood.

Blood saturated with Chaos. How…and who? Could it have been Amy's blood?

He rubbed his stained fingertips together and looked around in hope of getting answers. His peripheral vision registered the sight of a CCTV camera, filming him. Shadow may have just made his biggest mistake since he had allowed Team Dark to lose Omega. He got caught.

"Crud." Shadow blasted off, disturbing thoughts swirling in his brain. Someone was playing him for a fool.

He had to get back to the wisteria tree before it became too late. While approaching, he realised Sonic was still there. Espio, however, was gone. Not invisible, gone.

It was pointless to try locating him. Amy, who had already been at Sonic's side by the time Shadow returned to his hiding place, obscured Espio's Chaos footprint with her own power. At this rate, Sonic disappearing from radar was a matter of time.

Amy helped Sonic up, grabbed his hand and scanned the nearby shrubbery. Her focus lingered by Shadow's refuge. She scowled, making it apparent that he had been exposed.

Which meant there was no point in playing cat and mouse any longer. As Shadow took a stride forward, Amy blasted off in the direction of the pond. Despite lugging Sonic behind her, she ran too swiftly for Shadow to catch up. It wasn't a case of pure speed; Amy had mapped her getaway route through a crowded party area close to Pleasure Castle.

Shadow conceded defeat. He lost track of them and the presence that had been tormenting him all night also vanished. As such, he had no more business in Twinkle Park and stomped out.

The solitary haul home helped him vent, so he remembered to be quiet once he got to the front door. It was locked, like always. Since Rouge couldn't go outside or protect herself due to her injuries from the last mission, Shadow kept her behind lock and key. His key.

Shadow found Rouge sleeping. The sight relieved him because it meant he wouldn't endure another night of painful huffing and moaning. Not that he could if he wanted to. The tension had worn him out and he only cared about rest.

The moment he reached for the covers, though, a pair of teal eyes weighed down on him.

"Where do you think you're going?" Rouge asked.

"Sleep."

He could see her eyes narrow in disapproval.

"You smell like a wet hog, and I don't mean a hedgehog."

Glaring back at her didn't help. Rouge was unmovable and, given her condition, probably in the right. He didn't want anyone to sully the room she spent her days and nights in with mud.

Unhappy about rest being taken away from him, Shadow undressed and trudged over to the shower. He'd done it many times and he didn't mind that much anymore. As the hot water ran through his spines and suds washed unsavoury colours away, Shadow wanted to ease up, but his spines wouldn't listen.

_She_ was listening. Subjected to silence for most of the day, Rouge turned bubbly whenever Shadow was home.

"How was shopping?" she asked.

Humiliating, Shadow thought. He would have never said that out loud. He assumed she knew it, anyway, and he didn't want to hear any of her backhanded compliments.

"Delivered."

She giggled. Obviously, that was the wrong word. He should have given her a full sentence, only he didn't have the willpower to lie through his teeth, which he started brushing after being done with the shower.

"Good thing you sent the emerald home. I was getting worried about my precious."

Rouge wasn't going to chastise him for using Chaos Control to deliver the shopping? Now that was good news. Still, the fact she cared about the emerald and not him didn't help Shadow's spirits.

"What took you so long?"

Shadow spit out the water he was gargling and coughed. Rouge sure knew how to surprise him. "Traffic," he blurted out. He immediately realised he was going to regret it.

"I know a good liar when I see one and I can see right through you. Try again."

Warmth flooded Shadow's cheeks, and it wasn't hot water. Surely, it was mere wordplay? With Rouge, Shadow could never tell for sure, so he checked the shower cabin for any strange objects. Having to share one's living quarters with a GUN agent had certain risks, like having spy equipment installed in one's bathroom.

Shadow got out in a puff of steam, feeling refreshed and emboldened. "I had to walk the shopping off."

"That's more like it. You forgot the painkillers, though."

He didn't know which was worse: her whimsical humming, teasing a response out of him, or having another detestable chore to do tomorrow. Shadow grumbled as he snuck under the covers and recalled the bed was much too big for him alone. Shadow didn't know how or whether he should word it out. Rouge found it easier to sleep hanging from the ceiling, but having someone positioned above him all night concerned Shadow.

"Well? Aren't you going to…?" he began, expecting a putdown.

Shadow got to feel her breath instead. "Not without painkillers I won't. I need them for the sharp pain in my wing…" she faked a whine while bopping her nose against his, "and the grumpy pain in my butt. You'll make it stop, won't you, Shadow?"

"By committing suicide, no less."

He dug his face into the pillow, partially because he didn't know how to deal with her in this state yet, but mostly because she told him off for being unhappy. At least, that was how he understood the last part before his consciousness fuzzed up and he fell asleep. The tension in his quills stopped bothering him.

It didn't matter whether it was sunrise or sunset. The environment could hardly disturb Shadow when he managed to fall asleep. By far, the only thing to pull him out of that state besides the presence of the Black Arms was noise.

The sound that woke him up was particularly annoying. It came in short bursts from outside the bedroom, so it wasn't an alarm clock he could swat into oblivion without getting up.

"Do you mind getting that, Shadow? Someone's at the door," Rouge's voice added to the cacophony.

Groggily, he opened his eyes and saw the ceiling curve between floating walls. Shadow didn't need to imagine what it meant for his sense of balance. The splitting headache did that for him.

The first attempt to sit up had Shadow bumping into the mattress with his nose. He had to back up half-way to orientate himself in the room. Shadow shook his head to find the door and make the walls appear less floaty.

He heard Rouge sneeze. Shadow looked up and saw feathers flying everywhere. His quills tore apart the pillow that was stuck to his head. He groaned from the realisation that he'd have to clean it up later.

Somehow, Shadow maintained control of his feet long enough to sway his way to the front door.

"Who could that be?" he asked Rouge. He wasn't expecting any guests.

"Since you were seeing somebody else last night, I figured I could do it, too."

"Whatever," he replied thoughtlessly and opened the door.

Shadow rubbed his eyes when he saw the person on the other side, a pink hedgehog toting a parasol. It was Amy Rose.

"Hi!"


	4. Sharing Him

**Chapter 4: Sharing Him**

Shadow was gobsmacked. Amy Rose stood in the doorway beaming at him as if nothing had happened.

"May I come in?" she asked. Before the gears in his head turned, she blushed a deep shade of pink and giggled. "Oh, Shadow…I didn't know." She then opened her parasol to keep her eyes off of him.

He flushed in embarrassment upon realising he was greeting a guest naked. The feathers floating in the air and those stuck to his head didn't help. Because it was no use trying to convince Amy they weren't up to something weird, Shadow wished to avoid the topic and the two tittering girls altogether.

Rouge assured him that she'd be all right _like always_. As long as her communicator stayed on, Shadow didn't need her to say more. What he needed was to find clean socks, get dressed and get out.

The quick sandwich and newspaper he scavenged on his way were a costly consolation. He wasn't comfortable with Rouge staring at him from the ceiling all the time. Another pair of eyeballs tracking his tail made reaching the exit at a pedestrian's speed an unbearable chore.

At least, he was out and alone, free to do whatever he wanted. Well, almost.

He wanted a few more hours of sleep. The botched wakeup was going to haunt him for the rest of the afternoon.

Fortunately, Shadow learned from such setbacks and the newspaper was a part of an earlier contingency plan. Being out of the loop in GUN put him in an information vacuum he wanted to fill. The periodical was perfect for the purpose: a smorgasbord of reports from Station Square and the world coupled with classified pages that revealed the city's true colours.

Shadow always checked the classifieds since he had found out about the disappearances. Every issue had new names in the listings. He wasn't going to start looking for them, but the patterns helped him understand the situation: it was deteriorating.

_MISSING: Charmy Bee. The Chaotix Detective Agency will reward handsomely for providing information, which results in the person pictured above being found. Terms and conditions apply._

The ad gave Shadow a good idea why he had encountered Espio lurking in Twinkle Park last night. It also told him The Chaotix were lousy detectives if they had lost one of their own.

Despite being the youngest member of the team, the bee possessed oversize strength. That meant the perpetrator either knew Charmy's weaknesses well enough or had the brute force to overwhelm him. Hopefully, not both.

While strolling in search for a fitting secluded spot, Shadow wondered how bad things would need to get for the disappearances to affect everyday life in Station Square. Reducing the population density by half would make the city quite bearable, but the reaper was yet to reach the people Shadow wanted gone.

Or he wouldn't have been disturbed by one such person in the seedier part of Emerald Coast, yet to be reclaimed by beach goers after a Badnik attack.

"Shadow! Didn't expect to see you here! How long has it been since the Black Doom incident?"

The black hedgehog put his newspaper down and glanced at Sonic. He looked fine.

"Déjà vu…" Shadow muttered. They'd had this conversation before.

Sonic pointed at Shadow's ankle monitor. "Hey, what's that on your leg?"

"Pedometer," Shadow lied. He didn't think Sonic would understand.

"Hah, you said-"

Shadow interrupted him, "It's a racing tracker!" He put the newspaper away and smirked. "Dare to race me, Faker?"

"You're on!"

"First one to reach City Hall wins."

Shadow let Sonic do the countdown and gave him a head start, but it didn't prevent Shadow from closing the gap in a matter of seconds. What worried Shadow was that Sonic was trying his best and his best was paltry.

It confirmed Shadow's concern that something was wrong with the hedgehog. Sonic's performance revealed a deep-rooted problem he seemed to be unaware of. Although Sonic looked and felt unscathed on the outside, most of his friends could now outrun him.

Blazing past him would have been too easy and Shadow didn't know how Sonic would react to a crushing defeat in this state. One thing for sure, Sonic couldn't add more juice to his jog when Shadow's nose inched ahead.

They ran alongside each other until they reached the final stretch. Then, the urge to win got the best of Shadow and he took a solid lead, disregarding the anxiety in Sonic's eyes. He could literally run laps around Sonic and still make it to the finish line first. The lack of challenge saddened Shadow so much he didn't feel the flare to insult Sonic about it.

Other priorities came up when he saw a crowd of protesters gathered in front of City Hall. The tracking device on his leg reminded him of his obligation not to stir trouble.

Shadow switched his air skates off to slow down and took a detour when it became apparent to both racers that Sonic would reach the finish line first. He won the chance to sort out the protest.

Meanwhile, Shadow's duties brought him back to the convenience store. He picked up a pack of painkillers he had promised Rouge and was about to finish his transaction with the same purple weasel working the cash register when he noticed the newspaper the weasel was reading. A blurry picture of Shadow taken by Twinkle Park's security was on the front page.

"I'm taking that. Keep the change," Shadow said as he tore the paper from the weasel's hands.

The weasel grinned, flashing a large fang at Shadow.

"Freak…" Shadow muttered upon exiting the store. He couldn't help feeling paranoid. The black-and-white photo only featured a silhouette that bore a slight resemblance to him, but law enforcement had acted on even less evidence.

Shadow shuddered from the growing tension in his quills. It wasn't like the time in Twinkle Park. The source of his uneasiness was approaching fast, a long pink streak trailing behind it.

If little Amy Rose thought she could run for two, she'd have to fight for two as well. Regardless of her intentions, Shadow wanted to make sure she stopped for a chat.

He dashed to intercept the supersonic female only to plant his forehead into a wall when she dodged him and zipped by. Shadow didn't let the miss get to him and scaled the building to pursue her from above the streets, unhindered by traffic.

The thought that he was gaining on her brought a smile to his face. For someone so intent on evading him with fancy footwork, Amy didn't have what it took to outrun him in an even match. She must have realised this, too, because Shadow saw her turn to a dead-end street. Amy knew the city better than he did, so the game of cat and mouse could have continued for some time. He applauded her decision to admit defeat in style.

Shadow landed at the street's entrance to prevent her from leaving. Rather than stop, Amy gained speed as she ran towards the dead end.

Surely, she wouldn't try breaking through a building? It was insane and it'd connect Shadow to another crime scene. Shadow had to hand it to Amy: she was crafty.

Amy disappeared in a bright flash. The wall remained in-tact, leaving Shadow to gape.

"Chaos Control? But how…" He had the only Chaos Emerald in the city and he had left it back home…with Rouge. "Oh no, Rouge!"

Her communicator was still on, but she wouldn't respond. Shadow had to check on her ASAP.

Realisation hit him when he opened the front door to their apartment without using a key: he hadn't locked it in his rush to leave.

Breathless, he hastily examined the bedroom he had left her in. Rouge's clothes were discarded and Shadow found her communicator lying on the bedside cabinet, muted. The Chaos Emerald was gone. Someone had left half-washed dishes in the kitchen sink, the water still running.

Disturbing images raced in his mind. By letting them take her, he failed Team Dark. Omega could be rescued from Eggman, but if Rouge were to disappear without a trace like so many others, the loss would be permanent. Team Dark would cease to exist…

Shadow had imagined that focusing on his own problems was the best course of action. Others just held him back, so he didn't mind the kidnappings and murders. Somehow – he didn't know how – by taking his associates the enemy managed to hurt him.

The hedgehog was eager to return the favour and he didn't feel too picky about who was going to be on the receiving end of it. He had a thread to follow, which guaranteed at least two attempts at setting the record straight.

He expected to find both in Twinkle Park after dark.

Once there, he realised there might have been more leads to follow, as the unknown source of Chaos energy had beaten him to the goal. So did the duo of Sonic and Amy.

Shadow was free to _talk_ to the lovebirds on his terms now that he was alone. From his vantage point, he could observe them covertly and strike when the time was right. Shadow had the element surprise on his side.

He'd go for Sonic first. Shadow was yet to achieve full satisfaction in beating him to a pulp for letting the kidnappings spiral out of control. Some hero the Faker turned out to be, flirting with females instead of saving the world like he was supposed to.

The sight sickened Shadow. Sonic and Amy looked like they were having a great time, whispering sweet nothings to each other. Sonic would have to be a special sort of decorated moron to remain oblivious to the evils lurking about. Or the fact his girlfriend was a double-crossing emerald thief!

Shadow closed his eyes to ease up and contain his breathing. When he reopened them, he saw Sonic waving from the wisteria tree. Sonic couldn't have spotted him; he wasn't even looking in the right direction and had this delirious smile.

Amy, however, seemed fully aware of her surroundings and the uninvited guest. With her arms draped around Sonic, she caressed his chest all the while penetrating Shadow with her gaze. Despite clinging to Sonic like a vice on a regular basis, Amy didn't seem to exhibit the same emotional proximity.

It reminded him of the tone Amy had addressed Sonic with last night. Disdain. That was what she felt for Sonic.

As if to confirm Shadow's suspicion, she flashed a toothy smirk at him. Amy rubbed the side of her face against Sonic's shoulder and licked her teeth, drawing Shadow's attention to her elongated canines. She was yet to break eye contact with him.

Shadow ignored her subtle advances until she motioned with her fingers at him, making it obvious that she wanted him to come out into the open. He persisted.

Regret came all too soon. Shadow gave up on the plan to punish Sonic when he realised what she was about to do to the blue hedgehog. Amy forced Sonic to tilt his head to the side and hovered her salivating mouth above the base of his neck.

Sonic's gashes from last night. They were her doing!

Shadow rose to his feet. This wasn't going to happen on his watch.

Only it did. Amy's bite came the moment Shadow stormed out of hiding. Her teeth punctured Sonic's skin, blood trickling out from the twin wounds. It was then that Amy stopped caring about Shadow; her eyes rolled back in ecstasy as her mouth sucked up Sonic's pulsing vitality. Not a single drop would escape her.

Sonic was visibly wilting with every heartbeat that Amy consumed. Shadow intended to break them apart, but Sonic somehow still had the energy to speak to him.

"Shadow, stop! This is what I want. H-ahh." Sonic pleaded. Amy's head lowered as he said those words, her teeth digging deeper into his flesh to increase the flow. "It feels so good."

"Now I know who's to blame for the disappearances. Amy Rose!"

Sonic blinked in disbelief. "What? No! She wouldn't hurt a fly as long as I'm around. Would you, Amy?"

She shook her head lightly in response, the gesture making the wound worse. Sonic hissed in pain as it happened, yet his increasingly tired face continued radiating positivity. His Chaos footprint at that point was weaker than Espio's.

"Funny, I feel…cold." Sonic shivered. Amy tightened her grip on him to keep him steady. "S-so cold. I've never felt like this before w-with you. You'll k-keep me warm, right, ah, Amy?"

Amy opened her mouth, but instead of answering, she let go of Sonic, allowing his limp body to fall to the ground. Sonic was still bleeding.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Rose?!" Shadow yelled. He ran to Sonic's side and pressed his hands against the wound to try containing the flow. He wished he had bought bandages, not painkillers.

"Sharing. Sonic is a delicious sweetheart. You'll agree if you give him a chance."

Shadow didn't have to look at her to tell she was revelling in the shock she had wrought.


	5. Pay to Play

**Chapter 5: Pay to Play**

"You sick, twisted bitch." Shadow's hands quivered from the amount of pain he wanted to inflict on Amy.

Playful flames danced in her pupils as she watched him struggle to stop Sonic's bleeding. Shadow was so focused on saving his rival it brought a contemptuous smirk to her face. He must have realised by now that Sonic could not be helped without her permission, but he carried on regardless.

The blood seeping between Shadow's fingers reminded him of the helplessness he had felt when he had abandoned Omega to protect Rouge. Retreat was a regrettable option unfit for a fighter like Shadow. The fact his teammate could have no longer moved and his own energy reserves had been at their limit offered no consolation. Eggman still had Omega in his clutches, Rouge was still badly injured and Shadow was now up against an enemy more devious than the evil doctor.

Amy lied down on a tree branch above the two hedgehogs. Shadow's stuttering amused her. "Your mouth means business, but what about the rest of you? How can I help you, Shadow?"

It ailed her so much to see Sonic's crimson go to waste that she was ready to give him a helping hand. All Shadow had to do was ask politely. She waited for a reply, aware that the hedgehog needed time to overcome his stubbornness. Time tickling down Sonic's torso, painting it red…

When Amy realised that Shadow would neither yield nor even acknowledge her existence, she changed her tune.

"You know how to stop someone's pleasure, but you're useless when they're in pain," she taunted him in a cutesy voice. "Are you going to help Sonic or do you need me to show you how it's done?"

Shadow continued ignoring her until he felt a strong grip on his arm. Sonic took the dark hedgehog's glove off and pressed his bare palm against the wound. It was her doing. Something was up with the Chaos energy near the tree because Sonic couldn't have hidden such strength.

"Like this, Shadow. It's the least you can do," Sonic whispered. The fatigue evident on his face contrasted with the iron hold of his hand.

He could have punched the Faker out and left him to die, but Sonic didn't deserve it. Amy somehow found a way to control her make-believe boyfriend and it was connected to his blood. She was also persistent in egging Shadow on to attack.

Shadow would have already granted her wish if it weren't for the girl's Chaos footprint. She had been crafty enough to delude him about her intentions and abilities, which made him suspect a trap.

"You've come so far to get another show, Shadow, and you should know those aren't cheap," she purred. Shadow didn't like where this was going. "Good thing you've made a down payment or you'd find it difficult to leave."

"Down payment? It can't be! You're bluffing." Shadow glared daggers at Amy. No wonder she was acting so arrogantly...she was holding Rouge hostage.

"Look at him, Sonic. That's the face of denial."

The blue hedgehog paid dearly for the mention. Shadow kicked his face into the wisteria tree and freed his arm. He then faced Amy, who continued observing the action with amusement.

"You'll pay for this!" Shadow yelled.

"Oh? What are you going to do to me?"

A red aura surrounded Shadow as he clenched his fists. He no longer cared about the consequences of unleashing his rage. "Rouge. Bring her back. Right now."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Sonic, do you-"

She didn't get to finish her question; Shadow leaped onto the tree and hoisted Amy with his gloved hand by the collar of her dress. Judging by the minute change of Amy's facial expression, she was willing to cooperate.

"Right. Now," he repeated, clutching so tight the fabric started ripping.

Amy laughed. She didn't show any resistance, allowing her limbs to dangle in the air. "Poor baby. If you lost your sucker, you should ask mommy to buy you a new one. Am I your mommy now?"

Shadow meant business. With a solemn expression, he concentrated sparks in his free hand. A Chaos Spear awaited her.

"Don't patronise me, Rose. You can't even comprehend the extent of my power."

"Is that so? You're a bad liar, Shadow. What's worse is that you can't tell when somebody's bluffing."

She sealed her fate. Shadow brought forth the force he eradicated his enemies with.

As the energy passed through his arm, he felt a stinging sensation. Before he could identify the blue streak in front of him, darkness flashed in his eyes. He felt his head being lurched back, a bony sound of impact fuzzing up his coordination. He managed to retain control of his senses, but he had to let go of Amy.

Upon falling to the ground with the realisation that his arm may have been broken, he saw Amy cuddle Sonic next to him. The blue hedgehog was breathing heavily and he had a bruise on his forehead. He had headbutted and elbowed Shadow.

"Thanks, Sonic. You're a dear." She put her index finger on his lips, bringing back the delirious smile, and tended to his wounds by lapping up any leftover blood.

Despite being sore inside and out, Shadow got back to his feet. He couldn't feel his gloved hand. "Where did that come from? You were barely conscious!" he yelled at Sonic.

"I am ready to risk it all to protect Amy."

Amy stepped behind Sonic and wrapped her arms around his neck to show Shadow who he'd need to defeat to get to her.

"Tell me, Sonic, why do you think Shadow is stalking us?" she whispered into Sonic's ear, just loudly enough for Shadow to hear.

"He is jealous of our undying love."

"Until death sets us apart." Amy flicked Sonic's nose playfully before addressing Shadow, "Go home to your bat girl. You're done here."

Shadow's communicator was vibrating. He couldn't feel it because the arm had gone numb, but he saw it flashing. It was Rouge. She texted him to complain about being late with the painkillers.

He stared at Amy wide-eyed. Rouge's writing style was difficult to copy and if she was at the apartment, he may have made a grave mistake GUN could lock him up for. Fortunately, he fought docile opponents, who preferred spending time being weird together and were unlikely to turn him in.

These circumstances posed an opportunity. Amy seemed to be exploiting Sonic for his Chaos energy. Without a regular boost from Sonic, Shadow calculated, she'd be a non-issue. In fact, their nightly escapades were bound to interest GUN.

"I have one more thing to do, actually. Sonic, you're coming with me."

Amy tittered. "That's interesting, Shadow. What plans have you got for a _barely conscious_ hedgehog?" To illustrate her point, she waved in front of Sonic's face. His pupils didn't react. "You didn't want to share when I gave you to him, so I'll be keeping him alone. Scram while you still can."

Shadow didn't take kindly to being ordered around. Despite being injured, he still had an ace up his sleeve. His quills glowed red as he approached them. A Chaos Blast was imminent.

Amy glowered at him. Her playful demeanour vanished completely. "Take another step and I'll scream. Knowing your reputation and the blood currently on your hands, that would be a very bad thing."

He was taken aback by this. Amy, in the meantime, focused her ears on the other side of the pond. A night guard was scouring the premises. The revelation seemed to upset her more than Shadow. She let go of Sonic and looked around hastily.

"Do us all a favour and don't get caught by the cameras on your way out, won't you, Shadow? It may attract unwanted attention to our piece of heaven on earth and that would make my sweetheart grumpy. Isn't that right, sweetheart?" she asked, leaning forward to kiss Sonic.

Shadow turned away. He couldn't stand the sight of their wet slobber or the ecstasy on their faces. It made him angry, for some reason. Just like with the original reason of following them to Twinkle Park, he didn't want to dwell on it. He felt that misery stood behind the knowledge.

When the disturbing noises stopped, he was shocked to find both hedgehogs gone. They've eluded him once again.

He saw a flashlight waving its way closer to the wisteria tree. Shadow had to leave, but he didn't want to return home with Sonic's blood on his hands, lest Rouge would ask uncomfortable questions.

The pond would do. While he was washing his hands, he glanced at the tree Sonic and Amy had been on. An invasive species capable of choking out native plants cultivated for decoration. The park's owners had poor taste if they were the ones to grow this monster. A weeping willow would have fit the purpose much better.

Shadow couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something else about the tree that irritated him. The presence stalking him seemed to have a fondness for it.

He'd learn the truth later. Rouge was getting impatient.

Having escaped from Twinkle Park undetected, Shadow strolled through the city's empty alleys. The kidnappings must have taken a toll on nightlife, Shadow thought.

It wasn't until he reached the square in front of City Hall that he found the reason. The protesters got what they wanted: a curfew was in effect.

Shadow scuttled home while avoiding lit areas. He didn't want to alert the local authorities; he had enough on his shoulders.

The front door wouldn't budge. It was locked.

"Strange…" he muttered. It wasn't strange, per se, because he had intended to have the door locked. Just that he recalled it being unlocked the last time he had been there.

At least the window remained open. Laboriously and quietly, the hedgehog got in and found Rouge sound asleep below the ceiling. Good.

He put her painkillers on the bedside cabinet before heading to bed. She didn't suspect a thing, thank goodness. Shadow laid his head on the pillow and sighed in relief.

Rouge wiggled her nose. A pair of large eyes opened, quickly reduced to slits under the weight of a frown.

"Civilised people use the door. They also ring the doorbell if they don't have the keys."

How? She was asleep! What did he do to wake her up? Nothing!

Shadow buried his head in the pillow and held his breath, pretending to be out cold. Rouge wouldn't bite him about whatever it was that he had done if he was unconscious, right?

"Oh no, you don't! I don't know where you've been, but you're not getting any of that adventure stink on my sheets."

The heavy glove that landed on his head gave him the answer. Rouge's gloves weren't just for show; she put them on during missions and they lasted. What surprised him was that she had them on in her sleep.

Many things surprised him during the forced bonding session after Team Dark had failed its last assignment. Even though he had more discretion on how to spend his time than ever before, Shadow felt restricted. The number of individuals he had to trust or depend on concerned him. The daily routines, like the shower, didn't help. If Eggman wanted to strike, they were sitting ducks.

He dried himself and got back to Rouge without saying a word. She mistook his silence for irritation.

"Look, Shadow, I'm sorry for sounding upset. You know they did this to teach us a lesson about being a team. Us both, Shadow."

"How long is it until _we_ can get back to work?"

There was a gust of wind and hissing. Rouge must have tried flapping her wings.

"Give it a few more days," she said.

"Fine." Shadow put his head on the pillow again, thinking. Just a few more days. Two days is a few. Enough time to tie up all the loose ends in Station Square. Then, stomp Eggman. The plan brought satisfaction to his sleepy face.

The fidgeting above diminished it somewhat. Rouge shouldn't have tested her wings this early. Shadow couldn't relate to her pain, yet he understood why she kept him awake with the noise: she didn't want to beg.

Shadow kicked the covers up and returned with a glass of water quicker than they reached the bed's surface. Rouge took the glass along with a pill, surprise evident in her eyes. When did Shadow learn to be subtler than a boulder? The hedgehog was full of surprises.

"Good night, Shadow," Rouge mustered out. She'd thank him tomorrow.

"Night, Rose."

So full of surprises it made her heart beat like a drum. Rouge knew she hadn't misheard the name.


	6. Kneel

**Chapter 6: Kneel**

Shadow woke up feeling light-headed. His head and neck were all sore. Last night's scuffle with Sonic must have done a real number on him. He couldn't trust anything he experienced in this state, not even the sounds.

Water running in the background of her happy voice. Shadow could have sworn Rouge was singing.

He shook his head in disbelief and saw the walls ooze down along with his balance. If he hadn't been prostrated on the bed, the ugly return to the waking world could have damaged something more valuable than a pillow. Shadow didn't have much control over his quills this early…in the afternoon.

The clock could have been lying, but the way sunlight pierced the curtains was difficult to imitate.

Getting more conscious by the minute, Shadow realised how dry his mouth was. There was also an uncomfortable sensation on his tongue. Shadow stuck it out and picked off a few white hairs. Odd. They didn't look like his own shedding.

He was getting up to grab something to drink, anyway. His feet didn't give him any trouble until he registered in his brain that Rouge wasn't in the bedroom. Shadow flopped on the floor, eyes gaping at the ceiling.

Huh? She couldn't move on her own and her wings were all but totalled.

Running water! Rouge was gone the first time he had heard it. Distraught and without a plan, Shadow located the source of the sound in the bathroom.

The bathroom door was locked. Shadow felt Rouge's weakening Chaos signature behind it. She could be bleeding, or worse.

Shadow had no other choice. He broke inside.

"Aaaah! What's the big idea?!" Rouge screamed. Shadow found her sitting on the toilet. Her hands weren't big enough to cover herself whole and Shadow was standing too far for her to claw him.

"How did you get here without my help?"

Rouge blinked. Was this guy for real? "Good morning, Shadow! I crawled."

"Why didn't you…ask me to…help…you…" Shadow's ears drooped as he started to realise what he had done.

Slowly, he took a few steps back to give Rouge some privacy. Having knocked the doorknob off, he had to hold the door steady until Rouge was done. He could still hear more than he was supposed to, something Rouge was ready to grill him for.

"Because you were sleeping like a rock. Honestly, Shadow, I might not be in my best condition, but I can take care of myself indoors."

"I've heard that before," he mumbled. Where had he heard that before? The answer had him banging his head against the wall. "Amy! Down payment! The emerald!" He rummaged through every nook and cranny in search for the Chaos Emerald. He couldn't sense it.

"Rouge, where's the emerald I sent along with your shopping?"

"In the locked bedside drawer, why?" Rouge asked back as she got out in a loose dressing gown. She couldn't find the strength to make it proper, preferring to conserve it to eventually slap him. He deserved one for breaking the door and then leaving her to limp to the bedroom.

"The keys…she took the keys," Rouge heard him mope.

When she saw Shadow, she was ready to do something more drastic to the stupid hedgehog. Shadow had the drawer case above his head and was about to smash it against the floor.

"Shadow! Put it down! That's GUN property!"

He did as he was told, but that didn't end the fuming. "Stolen property is more like it. The Chaos Emerald is missing and so are the keys to the apartment."

"No-no-no-no-no, are you sure? Maybe it rolled under the bed?"

"I can sense Chaos Emeralds. It's gone, which means one of_ your_ invited guests took it without permission."

Rouge chewed on her upper lip nervously. "Why would she do something like that? She can't use Chaos Control and she doesn't care about jewels…" She huffed. "Huh, so this is what it feels like to be robbed? That bitch is so dead when I get my hands on her!"

Her distress put a smirk on his face. As courteous as ever, Shadow helped her sit down. Rouge had to be with him on this if he was to make any sense of the situation.

"Which makes me wonder why you let her in the first place."

"That one's easy. Amy lives in Station Square and she's the kind of girl you can milk for favours without feeling guilty afterwards. She gets annoying if you don't keep her busy."

"Tell me about it… Now you know why I avoid free lunches." It reminded him of his thirst.

Shadow helped himself to a can of Chaos Cola. Upon emptying it, he looked at the can and crushed it in his hand. The sentiment worried Rouge. They weren't out of the woods yet and Shadow's patience had already worn thin. She couldn't trust him to exhibit this kind of self-control in Amy's presence and there was little Rouge could do to stop him.

Seeing that he forcibly jammed the front door's lock to make the missing keys obsolete, Shadow was preparing for something big. Dark thoughts swirled in Rouge's mind. She had to intervene.

"You're not about to do what I think you're about to do, are you?"

"I'm going to retrieve the emerald," he replied and cracked his knuckles. "Contact GUN. This mateship experiment has gone too far." Shadow approached the open window, about to head out.

"She's just a dumb teen! You can't-"

"Exactly. Time for the dumb teen to learn a thing or two about the consequences of stealing from Team Dark."

"Be gentle, okay?"

He smirked in return. "I'm always gentle. You, on the other hand, were ready to kill her a moment ago."

This reassured her somewhat. Despite Shadow looking eager to break the terms of his agreement with GUN, he hadn't removed the tracking device on his leg. Rouge harboured no illusions about his ability to solve the problem with a stern word alone. It'd have to be the stick and she accepted the necessity.

For her own safety rather than the willingness to serve the thief justice. If the emerald fell into the wrong hands, a jammed door wouldn't stop them.

Rouge glanced at the curtains waving in front of the open window. The thought of closing it ran through her mind. With the emerald back in his possession, Shadow would find a way to get inside.

Unfortunately, it wasn't in his possession and Shadow had to sneak into Twinkle Park the old-fashioned way. He didn't need a radar to tell the emerald was there.

"At least they're predictable," he mumbled to himself as he scaled the fence.

It was a chilly prelude to the evening. Since the rainclouds had left, visibility in the park improved under the clear sky. Though, with curfew time edging near, there seemed to be more armed guards than visitors. The presence that had been a thorn in Shadow's side has also disappeared.

Shadow set his sights on the wisteria tree. Now that Amy had the Chaos Emerald, she became a beacon to anyone capable of sensing Chaos energy in Station Square. The girl painted a target on her own back and may have already attracted unsavoury types to the city. Shadow would put a stop to her recklessness.

He found her preoccupied with Sonic on the same tree branch. Neither had noticed his approach, another side effect of being drunk with the emerald's power.

Shadow folded his arms in wait. He was within Amy's peripheral vision, yet she took her time to respond, preferring Sonic's on-going lip lock. The lovesick hedgehog didn't have the mental faculty to realise he was the reason why Amy could overpower him. Her embrace, meant to siphon instead of sharing, turned them into a perverse iteration of communicating vessels.

In his mind, Shadow relished the thought of breaking them apart and then breaking each individually. Like he had promised Rouge, he'd be gentle and not exceed the bare minimum needed to get the Chaos Emerald. By that, he had meant the inhibitor rings were to stay on. Everything else remained on the table.

Amy pulled away from Sonic and licked the crimson off of her lips. As she grinned at Shadow, revealing her elongated canines, Sonic's head fell onto her lap.

"Looks like we have a loyal fan," she teased while petting the weakened hedgehog. "Gonna sit there and watch or have you warmed up to take part in the action?"

Shadow snorted at the offer. She didn't like that. Her eyes started glowing an eerie yellow and Shadow felt something in his ears. His spines tensed on instinct before he found himself knocked down to the ground.

He expected Amy to use the Chaos energy she had stolen from Sonic to surprise him, but this was something else entirely. The silent blast disoriented Shadow to the point that he struggled to get back up.

The hedgehog's body seemed to weigh a ton, with sandbags where joints should have been. He didn't notice that he was sweating from the amount of effort it took to keep his face from hitting the dirt.

Amy tickled underneath Sonic's chin while observing Shadow's humiliation. "Give up yet? Sonic could use a playmate."

"Never!"

It was a mind trick. Shadow's limbs were still under his control. He just had to exert more effort. The arms trembled while lifting his upper torso and he managed to put one of his feet firmly on the ground. Her influence was weakening.

"Gonna stand your ground, huh?" Amy asked mockingly.

Just when she said that, her eyes glowed brighter and Shadow found it hard to breathe. He couldn't say anything in response. She grinned.

"Thought so. Then, kneel."

A second blow, more powerful than the first, brought him down again. Shadow was fuming inside. He punched the dirt and snarled, glaring daggers at Amy. No, not Amy, only the monster that had assumed her appearance. Shadow had no qualms about annihilating a monster. Now that he knew the extent of his enemy's abilities, he could pull out his trump card.

His quills waved despite there being no wind while his body produced enough heat to scorch the soil beneath him. Shadow tapped into his supply of Chaos energy, which allowed him to return to his feet. It was a breath of fresh air.

Amy was taken aback by his resolve. Her eyes stopped glowing and she ushered Sonic to get up. "That's impossible. No one can resist my will."

Shadow sensed a change in balance between Sonic and Amy. She was feeding Sonic energy. Not that it mattered. They were both punching bags as far as he was concerned.

"Tell that to Black Doom when you see him in hell," Shadow sneered. The Black Arms had tried to use the same trick against him in the past and failed. If Amy wanted to imitate them, she'd meet their fate.

She clasped her hands nervously. Sonic was no longer by her side. "The only way for anyone to be immune to me is if they already belong to someone else and you…you should be free for the taking."

A blue streak strode towards Shadow. He didn't waste his time on Amy's puppet and saw Sonic off with a kick in the crotch. A high-pitched yelp assured Shadow that one of his targets was put out of commission.

"He should be free, too," Shadow said, pointing at the blue mass of debilitating pain behind him. "I'm here for the emerald and I'm not leaving without it."

Amy parted her hands, revealing the Chaos Emerald. "What do I get in return?"

"You can keep _him_, for all I care."

"He won't last long without the emerald to rejuvenate him. No deal."

Shadow shrugged. "Tough."

She looked down at the emerald, a small smile engraved on her face. "I know! You can have your boring emerald and in return…I'll add her to my collection. After staying indoors this long, her blood must be yearning for adventure."

"You wouldn't…"

"I would, unless you have a better idea." Amy put out her hand and let the emerald roll off of her fingertips.

Gritting his teeth, Shadow couldn't force himself to pick up the discarded gem. He wasn't going to play by Amy's rules. When it became apparent to her, the small smile grew tenfold as a blue blur took the emerald.

Sonic could barely stand upright, but he had enough resolve to tear Shadow's hopes asunder.

"Chaos Control!"

As if to return the favour, Sonic hadn't given Shadow a fighting chance. The black hedgehog could only see the lightning quick movements of his opponents who, in reality, studied him leisurely. Time has all but stopped for Shadow.

When the effect started wearing off, Shadow realised that Sonic was holding him down like a prisoner. He had Shadow's arms twisted backwards to keep him from thrashing.

"No!" Shadow cried out, seeing a cloud of pink in front of him.

"The first time is always the hardest, but once you break them in, they'll be ready for you." Amy opened her mouth and allowed her saliva to drip onto the base of Shadow's neck. It was time to feast.

By the time Chaos Control dissipated completely, Amy had already punctured Shadow's skin. Her fangs sank into his flesh, an intrusion his innate healing powers couldn't protect him from.

Shadow felt stoned while she worked her teeth deeper inside. The pain in his strained joints receded, as did the dread of humiliation. His senses went out of sync with the environment, floating between extremes of full awareness and blacking out. He was yet to realise that the latter grew stronger with every heartbeat.

"We've been dreaming of this moment," he heard the sound of her distorted voice. "Ultimate life…silky smooth, teeming with warmth for me. Fulfil me and I'll satiate you, help you rise above this nightmare. Don't hold back. Release yourself, Shadow."

He was in too far to react. Shadow identified the words, but he couldn't make light of the command while being continuously awash by waves of heat and chill, spreading from the wound.

Amy stopped draining him for a moment. He could hear her laboured breathing. Sonic freed his arms. Then, she resumed in a different tune, latched to him like a vice.

"Tenacious to the last drop. It's too late to fight. You have lost. You are at your limit. There is nothing you can do to stop me. She's next. You'll never see her again. I'll take everything you hold dear away from you."

The punishment rang in his ears non-stop until it broke through his daze. Shadow's eyes shot open to shower the pink female with fervid hate.

"Y-you've crossed the line." Shadow reached for his inhibitor rings and unlocked them. The kid gloves were off. "Now, you perish."

A single tear rolled down her cheek when she saw Shadow in his true colours. He mistook it for regret despite his faculties returning to normal.

Before he could make use of them to dispose of the girl, his limbs got heavy. A feeling of numbness trickled upwards from his fingertips. The waves of heat ceased, giving rise to a gripping chill. In his final moments of clarity, Shadow glanced at Amy and saw her crying from delight.

It was a mind trick all along. The inhibitor rings had been protecting his energy reserves…

The last thing he registered was his voice mumbling incoherently, "Cold. S-so cold."


	7. Present Perfect

**Chapter 7: Present Perfect**

The sound of her breathing haunted Shadow even after he had blacked out. Amy's words, her threats and mocking sweet talk moulded together into an incoherent mess that made him want to scream.

Sent down into nightmarish humiliation, Shadow was suffocating despite being able to breathe. It was an agonizing experience to have his strength and sanity drained. To his captor, he was nothing more than a piece of meat. Amy made sure he understood this by letting him hear her chant as he stirred awake.

"Relentless. Eternal. Addictively powerful. I don't need Sonic if I can have this every day. And now that I have the key to unlocking you, I know you will be eager to cooperate."

He shuddered, eyeing his surroundings in a fit of panic. He was back in his apartment. Alive, conscious and in control of his extremities. An icy chill surged down his spine once he embraced reality. Shadow felt cold from the amount of Chaos energy radiating from him.

When did he get there and how did he survive the night without his inhibitor rings?

Confused, Shadow looked into the mirror. There were two fresh scabs above his shoulder. It didn't hurt physically, but it was a mark of shame strong enough to resist his healing abilities. Shadow refused to imagine the state he had been in at the time of release. If Amy had done anything else to him during the night, his body had erased the evidence.

Shadow found his inhibitor rings collated in pairs next to him. The Chaos Emerald was on the other side, resting atop a newspaper. The jewel had helped him pull through, but, if it was with him, that meant…

"Rouge!"

They had taken her. The door to the apartment lay in pieces on the floor, making it obvious that they didn't care about subtlety. Shadow was furious.

He checked his communicator in hopes of pinpointing her location. The signal pinged back to the apartment. The kidnappers had left her tracker in a bedside drawer.

Shadow took a deep breath. His anger made it difficult to concentrate and he didn't want to accidentally destroy the whole apartment block. He had to conserve his strength for the enemy.

Putting the inhibitor rings on helped him calm down. He then took the emerald and glanced at the newspaper. He perked an eye ridge at what he read.

"_Sonic Saves the Day_?"

The front page had a boisterous photo of Sonic and Espio doing a high five in front of a cheering crowd. A familiar bee was showing the peace sign in the corner.

Skimming through the text, Shadow found good news he couldn't relate to. "Joint efforts of The Chaotix Detective Agency and world famous hero Sonic the Hedgehog rewarded for saving Station Square... Missing people return. Reporting anaemia and memory loss. Renowned physicist Dr Nik Botvoroi blames loophole in spacetime, is issued permit to map and seal spatial hazards in the city. Local blood bank asks for donors to help those affected."

What garbage! Sonic must have found the missing people because he had been the one to kidnap them. Those poor people didn't know they were being taken for saps.

Shadow tore up the newspaper and stormed out. The happy people made him feel sick. They cheered for monsters and held him in disgrace. None of them had any idea what he was going through or that his sacrifice was the reason why they were still breathing. Eggman, Black Doom and now this…

True heroes didn't flaunt their victories. They stayed in the dark, the place Shadow was most comfortable in.

"Chaos Control!"

The crude shortcut brought him right to the wisteria tree in Twinkle Park. He didn't like that tree. He didn't like the presence that lingered around that tree. With ultimate power on his side, he'd end both.

Shadow grinned as he spindashed into the trunk. Again and again, he attacked the tree until it was no more. Huffing from exhaustion, Shadow spat at the mangled stump. One annoyance taken care of. If only he could-

"Be glad you're immortal or you'd be dead now. That was my special tree. It's where I made Sonic perfect."

The second annoyance showed up just in time! Shadow faced Amy with visceral delight. Despite having tasted his blood, she was weaker, slower and less cunning than him. To fall into his hands so easily. Her suicidal tendencies were cutesy.

"Mercy!" she cried out when he grabbed her by the throat. Shadow had so much Chaos energy inside that he could snap her neck like a pencil. She could see the murderous intent in his eyes and the brutality in his grip. It made her tremble.

"I'm going to take it real slow for you, Rose. No holding back." No mercy!

Amy's ear-splitting shriek was music to his ears. The more pressure he applied, the more it distorted her squeaky voice. Then, her vocal cords gave up. Shadow sensed the frailty of her breath running between his fingers. She was at her limit.

He looked at her one more time to remember her wordless pleading expression. It almost saddened him to see her this way, but the monster deserved to die for what she had done to Rouge.

"Don't do this, Shadow! She's sick!"

Shadow's ears twitched. "Who said that?" He forgot all about Amy when he identified the source. "Rouge! You're okay!"

Only she wasn't okay. She looked like she was about to faint, prompting Shadow to run to her rescue. His thoughts were in such a flurry he didn't know where to start. Seconds ago, he was ready to strangle a hedgehog for a crime she did not commit. The joy of recovering his teammate mixed with the embarrassment of having assaulted an innocent civilian.

Shadow sighed, his tension easing in Rouge's embrace. It took him a moment to realise something was off about the situation. Rouge wore her skin-tight spy suit, even though yesterday she didn't have the strength to decently wrap a bath robe. Then, he recalled that Amy remained suspect of brainwashing Sonic…and Shadow had his back turned on her.

"Get down!" Rouge ordered. She knocked him into the ground with tremendous force.

A wave of pink swished above his snout. Amy took out her Piko-Piko hammer and she was looking for a fight.

"Out of my way, Bat Girl! I saw him first!"

Rouge waggled her finger at Amy. "Sweetie, I called dibs when you still had your baby teeth."

"Big whoop, grandma. Why dontcha limp away quietly before I prescribe you a pair of dentures?" Amy teased, leaning against her hammer. She saw the irritation crack through Rouge's level-headed demeanour and smirked, ready to drive the point home. "Careful, you won't be able to glaze over those wrinkles."

Shadow heard just about all he could stand. "I'll take care of this," he said as he got up only to be pushed back down by Rouge.

The bat glared at him from the corner of her eye. He felt an unnatural compulsion to listen. "She had the nerve to steal my stuff and exploit you for fun. This is personal."

Amy waved her hand in front of her mouth, pretending to yawn. "Yapping isn't getting you any younger!"

Rouge's ears twitched as she assumed her fighting stance. "Oh, you immature little brat! I'll teach you some manners!"

Amy responded with a blah-blah gesture and lifted her hammer. Rouge didn't keep her waiting; she charged straight at Amy. The hedgehog may have been faster, more limber and energetic, but her teenage aggression made her easy to read. Rouge dodged the sideways swing of the hammer by taking flight.

"Gonna show him your true colours, huh?" Amy mocked.

"Shut your mouth!" Rouge yelled. She backed it up with a roundhouse kick as soon as she landed behind Amy.

Jolted forward, Amy used her hammer for support. Rouge was already on her tail, but the hedgehog had a trick up her sleeve. She made a wide spindash-like motion with her hammer out and somersaulted to a safe distance. Without slowing down, Amy angled her hammer and chucked it at Rouge.

"Can't catch me! Can't make me!"

The bat had to react quickly. She strode aside to dodge the projectile and got her pick nails ready to pull a good one on Amy. The hedgehog was too confident for it to last. Rouge knew that once she got into melee distance, Amy would need a plastic surgeon before her next public appearance.

"Too slow!" Rouge hollered back, about to strike Amy down.

It was then that Amy's hook shot made its return by pounding Rouge into the air. The "Piko!" sound added insult to injury.

Amy winked upon seeing Rouge land face-first. "Mwah! There's a nutritious mud mask for you, wrinkleface." She turned her attention to Shadow, "The loser got her consolation prize, which means I'm going home with the trophy."

The menacing aura that surrounded him was only a fraction of the rage boiling inside Shadow. Amy could barely keep herself from drooling at the amount of Chaos she could drain from him. Even though he looked eager to give it to her, Amy wanted him to pour his heart into it.

"What's the matter, Shadow? Feeling edgy?"

In response, Shadow clicked the inhibitor rings free and disposed of them. Amy's heart started beating like a drum as soon as she felt Shadow's Chaos footprint flood the park like a tidal wave. It would quench her thirst, and she got very thirsty since she had drunk ultimate life.

Shadow pounced like a beast. His incredible speed bordered on the limit of her senses. Amy's spines trembled in excitement as her eyes lit up yellow again.

"Let me fix that for you," she whispered.

Like nails to a coffin, her alien powers sealed Shadow's fate under the weight of an unspeakable darkness. It was the presence hiding behind the hapless who opened themselves up to its control. _His _presence.

"How?! Why?!" he shouted at the abyss shining through her eyes.

Amy seemed ignorant of what was going on, of the recklessness she had committed by dealing with the evil out to enslave and devour the world's population. She would not have lived, had she known. The thought alone was so potent it could drive one to the kind of insanity that invariably ends with death.

If it weren't for his breathing coming to a halt, he would have called her out for living on time that was not even loaned, only stolen from others. Intoxicated with the power she wielded, Amy was clueless that she was a pawn in someone else's game.

A pawn he was at the mercy of.

She cooed, standing above him, "Poor Shadow, so cute 'cause he can't cope with defeat." Amy glanced at Shadow, examining the one part of his body he still had some semblance of control over, his eyes. The things she saw in them made her chuckle. "Wait…that's not it." She lifted his head crudely to have a more in-depth look.

Shadow tried to hide the answer from her. If it were possible, he'd have stabbed his eyes out. The things she could read off of them were not just a cruel invasion of his inner world. By letting her in, Shadow was letting _him_ in. A feeling of dread and disgust came over Shadow when she was done.

Amy laughed heartily at both Shadow and Rouge. "You mean she didn't tell you? She didn't tell you anything? This is just perfect!"

He heard Rouge cry in the distance, "We had a deal!"

Amy pointed accusingly at Rouge, still prostrated on the ground, "_You_ had a deal and you blew it when you tried to take Sonic as your own. But that's okay! I've been tickling Shadow's fancy for so long he's one drop away from falling for me. Isn't that right, delicious sweetheart?" Amy raised Shadow's head to make sure Rouge could see it and petted his lax quills. "Get a load of this, Rouge. It's the last you'll see of him."

Humiliated, defeated, broken, Shadow lowered his eyelids, unsure whether he'd return to consciousness or brood in an eternal fever dream Amy had prepared for him.

Tension gave way to scratching until slurping killed the rest of his hope. He shouldn't have removed the inhibitor rings.

His only wish was to be able to tell Rouge that he was sorry. Sorry for everything he had said and done to her that was wrong and she did not deserve. It took loss for Shadow to realise the treasure he had been granted.

The reflection sparked a violent response from Amy, who must have gotten deep enough to spy on his fleeting thoughts. He was shaken and thrust into something hard as punishment. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to end his misery. The injuries would heal while the rest would carry on bleeding.

"Kya!"

Shadow expected a blow to follow. It didn't. He looked around and immediately felt disoriented. The ground was rumbling and he had blood gushing out of an open wound. It took him time to put two and two together when he saw Rouge mauling Amy in the distance. They weren't the cause of the earthquake.

His tainted consciousness could have been playing tricks on him. The ground felt like it had an unnatural fleshy texture and he didn't recognise Rouge when she appeared right in front of him.

She looked scared while yelling something at him. Shadow heard her voice after a delay like from the bottom of a water tank.

"Stay with me, Shadow! We need to leave ASAP. Where's the Chaos Emerald?"

"I…I don't remember. Can't think straight. My head…"

Rouge pulled him out, but he was slipping again. The shining yellow eyes of Amy Rose called for him like a beacon in an otherwise bleak, lifeless world. Rouge gasped in horror when she saw him smile dreamily. It wasn't his smile.

"No, don't make me do this. Don't you dare!" she wailed. Shaking him didn't work. The wound was too deep for her to contain the bleeding and he was burning through too much Chaos energy. Shadow wouldn't last much longer at this rate.

She made up her mind once she saw Amy getting up. If Rouge didn't do it, Amy surely would.

"I'm sorry, Shadow. I betrayed you…"

Moisture woke him up from the daze. It was warm, dripping on his side. A familiar scent helped him venture into the waking world. It was an enlightening experience. The world assumed its normal shape, the colours returned, just that there was an overwhelming sadness connected to him.

Shadow looked to his side. He saw Rouge crying. Her tears had left matted trails on his fur. Why was she crying?

"Rouge?" he asked. No response, only sadness resonating in his mind. "What are you doing, Rou-"

Weakness struck his faculties. New sensations washed over him during the floaty recovery. Anger and contempt overlapped the misery. His vision was a level above a spinning mess of colours, but the cloud of pink on his other side was enough to identify the source.

"Argh!" He was at a loss. While Amy was little more than a monster held prisoner by her own urges, he didn't expect Rouge to succumb. "Stop. Please, no more…" he pleaded. Neither female yielded. They had already swallowed his aura and were now draining the life from him. "I don't want to hurt…"

To his dismay, he discovered that both were holding him down. His distressed heartbeat only served their benefit. Shadow tried to focus his remaining strength to stay conscious. The ground was still shaking and Shadow managed to make out the reason. It stood where the wisteria tree used to be.

An obelisk resembling Black Doom was rising from the ground.

"You!" Shadow yelled, desperate to free himself. "Let me go! You don't understand. This has to stop!"

The unsettling presence grew stronger when the obelisk assumed its full height. Its influence transformed the park into the alien landscape Shadow had seen inside the Black Comet. Shadow was running out of time. He looked at Rouge, but all he could see in her place was a yellow-eyed Black Warrior feeding on him. Amy underwent the same transformation.

Although he didn't want to hurt Rouge and Amy, Shadow had no qualms about annihilating Black Doom's spawn. He knocked their heads together so hard he heard a bony crack and got up. The obelisk was next.

Shadow trudged forward, a severe chill making it difficult to move. There was a piece of flesh missing at the base of his neck and he was leaving a trail of blood that got longer with every step.

"The emerald…must find…" he mumbled to himself like a sleepwalker. It was close. He could sense it.

"Looking for this?" he heard coming from behind. There it was, in a purple weasel's hand. "Come and get it."

He looked like the convenience store clerk and even had the same large tooth. The clothes were different. A brown hat and belt, leather gloves…. He was holding a device that looked like a remote in his other hand. Before Shadow got close enough to threaten him, the weasel started playing with the dial of his remote.

The effects were instantaneous and mind-numbing. When he turned the dial down, the park returned to normal. The opposite motion transformed the world before Shadow's eyes into the guts of a frightening creature, a spawn of Black Arms bigger than the whole city. The buildings, trees and living beings were all extensions of the monster's digestion tract.

It wasn't until Shadow looked at himself that he snapped. He was no longer a hedgehog, only a rogue Black Warrior about to be consumed by the leviathan's soft inner lining. Shadow started foaming at the mouth while his body writhed in seizures. His mind was so detached from reality he couldn't decipher the words spoken to him.

"Who's the freak now?" the weasel asked and stomped on Shadow's face after toning the dial down.

Shadow didn't feel any pain. He didn't feel much of anything. The ground rumbled every once in a while, giving way to mechanical sound.

"Throw that one in the pond. These two have a family reunion party scheduled in Pleasure Castle."

"AFFIRMATIVE."


	8. Gloom Castle

Author's note: _Subliminal Thoughts_ by Epic Score is good to have on the side when you're in the mood for nightmare fuel.

* * *

**Chapter 8: Gloom Castle**

Shadow was omnipresent. He saw and felt everything in the castle. A hundred hearts were beating within its walls, and not a single one could hold a secret from him, for he was the one to bring them to life and they were extensions of his being.

Like a river, he absorbed all their hopes and dreams, sensations born from a beautiful future, and replicated them infinitely. Forever sharing, forever connecting. With every heartbeat he granted them, they became stronger. With every fulfilled wish, they would help him grow. Shadow was pleased with his role in the castle's harmonious garden. He was proud to serve a higher purpose.

While completely devoted to the well-being of his eyes and ears – his children, he knew they needed him to find more. The more he would find, the quicker they would ripen. It was a virtuous circle that urged him to embrace omnipresence as a means of interacting with…the outside.

Cold, alien sensations awaited in the outside world. They were anathema to Shadow and the life he cultivated. Only those ready to accept him would become a part of the garden. That was why Shadow observed trespassers with hopeful curiosity.

He found three of them. Three beacons pulsating with life. They looked so lonely, desperate to escape their isolation and let a harmony cleanse the chaos keeping them from ascension. Shadow saw so much chaos weighing them down. He had to free them.

But not all at once. The more Shadow observed them, the more he could distinguish their features and alignment. Two of them held together despite being entirely different.

The third one showed more promise. It kept to itself and acted like it was alien to the outside. Hugging walls, slithering in the dark, evading the other two. It was begging to be whisked away by Shadow, and his hearts beat in excitement about the opportunity.

However, Shadow hesitated to extend an invitation. This trespasser was not a part of the outside world. In fact, it feared being exposed by outsiders, yet was comfortable under Shadow's watchful eye. It had invariably tasted belonging and yearned to return to its garden. Shadow refused to test its alignment, lest he would become a thief to another gardener.

Shadow had no doubts about the other two. They smelled of the outside and their minds would constantly wander. Lacking focus or any sense of commonality, they exhumed negativity as they moved about. It was a sign of incompatibility, a trait alien to those inside. Shadow knew this vice would help them find a way into the fold, for he saw and felt everything in the castle.

A weasel stood before a tall mustachio man. The man had his back turned on him, working on a machine that could have been alive, but wasn't.

"I'm not leaving without my reward," the weasel said. He really wanted to leave.

"What? But of course! Put it there, Nack!" the man grabbed the weasel's hand and shook it boisterously. "Good job!"

"Cut the BS and make with the dough like you promised. Or things will get ugly for sleeping beauty over there."

Nack pulled his hand out of the man's grasp and pointed a gun at one of the stasis capsules that lined the hall. Although some of them were empty, that one had a red and black hedgehog inside. Shadow did not recognise the hedgehog, just like he did not recognise the outsiders.

The man stepped behind his machine. "There's no reason to get feisty over a friendly joke. You've been a valuable asset and I want you to continue benefitting my plans. Step into the light and you will be transported to your just desserts."

Just as he finished speaking, a beam of green light tore through the floor and exposed a part of Shadow's garden to the outside. It did not belong there, but Shadow couldn't do anything to save it. A hidden machine was tugging at the veins, pushing them to coil upwards and discretely line the bottom of a golden elevator.

Nack tried his best not to look impressed by the shiny outer shell. "I'd take this one home, but you must think I'm stupid if you expect me to go inside."

"Hand me the remote and I'll show you the value of trusting me," the man ordered.

The weasel obliged. Trust was worth squat, and if he was going to be shown that, his gun would do the talking. Beating a bounty hunter's expectations was a tall order.

After a few key presses, the elevator's metal walls tapered around a glass capsule with a see-through bottom. Upon closer inspection, Nack saw a cavernous hall further down into the castle. It contained the source of the light, a mountain of treasure and artefacts.

"Now you're speaking my language, doc. King me!" Nack exclaimed upon entering the elevator. He got on all fours and pressed his face against the floor. All that treasure the doctor was simply giving away... The old fool and his money were soon to be parted, and if he counted on Nack's inability to smuggle everything out of the castle, he was even dumber than he looked.

"Oh, and one more thing," the doctor added. "What's your blood type?"

"Type O negative, why?"

"I need more donors."

With that, the elevator doors sealed shut and the capsule started its journey down. Nack was so transfixed on his reward he didn't register when the red and black logo of the Eggman Empire replaced the image of treasure.

"Huh?" Nack tapped the floor in disbelief. "No. Hell no!" He glared up. "You've just made a sworn enemy, Eggman." He punched the glass floor, making it spiderweb as the screen attached to the bottom fell off.

The imagery that replaced it made Nack wish he hadn't done that. Blood vessels thicker than his arm. They were throbbing, growing, taking up more and more space outside the capsule. Nack was mortified; he could hear pressure mounting on the glass walls and he felt the slithering under the cracked floor. The glass shards had punctured some of the veins, making them leak blood. The soles of his shoes were already covered in it and more was coming into the tiny chamber.

"Ha-ha. That was a good joke, doc. Why dontcha take me up, so I can give you a pat on the back, eh?"

Nothing.

The veins surrounding him were now thicker than his torso. They were everywhere, grinding against the capsule until a series of cracks reached Nack's ears. He was getting desperate.

"Okay-okay. I'm sorry for threatening you! This job is on me." He felt something crawling up his leg. He didn't dare look down. "And-and you get one more. Free of charge!" Nack reached for his gun and realised he couldn't pull it out of the holster. "Hey, I'll even pay you to hire me. Please? I'll be your best friend!"

The ceiling caved in. Nack didn't have the chance to cry out because a vein wrapped itself around his neck and started expanding, cutting his oxygen supply. In a last ditch attempt to escape, Nack discharged his gun inside the holster, but it only made the liquid rise quicker. There was no more capsule or elevator shaft, just a weasel squeezed to death in a pocket of crimson.

Shadow was excited to welcome another growth to his garden. Nack the Weasel, for all his misdeeds, had a good heart and enough adrenaline to make for a swift ascension into Shadow. Nack told him the story of a greater outside, a world spanning beyond Twinkle Park. Untold numbers of hearts were beating in chaotic loneliness without any hope of witnessing the beauty of becoming a part of Shadow's perfection. He yearned to see them, to feel them and join them all together.

With the adrenaline harvested from Nack's dissolving husk inciting new life in the garden, Shadow cast his attention to the second outsider, Doctor Eggman. Shadow was thankful to the doctor for the gift of expansion and he wished to share the delight with his patron, inside.

Before Shadow's shoots could reach the doctor, though, Shadow heard a cry coming from one of his hearts. It was being pulled out of the garden, its juices drained and annihilated by the machine that could have been alive, but wasn't. Shadow resisted the intrusion by keeping his heart awash with life, so it wouldn't feel the drain as it progressed.

The garden resisted experiencing the sadness of a losing battle, but it was incapable of stopping the process. When the machine extracted the last drop and prevented Shadow from entering his heart again, he knew they had to part. Shadow broke the link that had kept them so happy together and released her thrashing outside. The grim chill of separation wrought mourning.

"Come back…" Shadow heard himself whisper.

"And that takes care of my end of the bargain. You were right to trust me, Rouge. Welcome to Pleasure Castle, my latest conquest!"

Shadow had known the owner of the second voice, only the name escaped him. It was difficult to focus. Consciousness gave him a pounding headache and hastened his pulse. The events unfolding before his eyes had meaning. All he had to do was put the fragments together to form a picture, but he hesitated. Shadow didn't want his conscious self to touch the pieces of something broken. He preferred focusing on the whole that brought peace to his troubled mind.

He couldn't close his eyes to fall back into bliss. Shadow screamed inside at the realisation that he was broken, too. Like the images in front of him.

A cold mouldy hall dominated by machines. Little clumps of pale flesh shaped like hedgehogs floated in rows of stasis capsules. A grinning mustachio man in the corner towered above a female bat. She was on her knees in a puddle of glowing stasis goo.

"Rouge!"

The man frowned when he faced Shadow. "Hm? You were not supposed to wake up."

"Rouge!" the hedgehog exclaimed, albeit his jaws stayed still. "What have you done to her?!"

It took Shadow time to realise words weren't coming from his mouth. Shadow was inside a stasis pod filled with the same green liquid. The machinery attached to him, however, was like nothing he had ever seen. A metal visor with multi-coloured tubes that stretched from the ceiling concealed his face. Looking down, Shadow found his Chaos Emerald behind an energy screen at the bottom. It was probably there to power the pod.

Breaking out would have been a piece of cake if he could move at all. There were needles attached to his extremities and he could feel their purpose in the marrow of his bones. It didn't hurt. Just that when he noticed he couldn't breathe independently, he wished it did, so he would have some form of release. The pod stimulated his lungs by varying the pressure of the stasis liquid around his chest.

Eggman grinned victoriously. "Conserve your strength. I calibrated this machine especially for you, and the more energy you waste on reckless struggling, the deeper you'll integrate into the network when you're unconscious again."

"What are you on about, Eggman?" Rouge asked between coughs. She was about to vomit. "We had a deal!"

"You're alive and I removed Shadow's taint from your bloodstream."

"You promised you'd let us go."

"I believe I had already honoured that part of the agreement…or have you forgotten all about it?" Eggman turned to Shadow again, as if asking him the question. "Allow me to refresh your memory."

"No! Don't," Rouge pleaded. Her attempt to rise up resulted in her vomiting on the floor.

"Three weeks ago, Team Dark broke into one of my research facilities for no good reason."

"That facility was poisoning the air and drinking water across the continent…" Rouge spit out before another spasm took over.

"A small price to pay for the breakthrough I was about to accomplish. The fools at the helm of GUN clearly didn't know what they were doing."

"We had to stop you…people were dying."

Eggman played with his moustache while observing Shadow's anguish. The hedgehog couldn't show it on his face, but the vitals Eggman had access to told him Shadow was roiling inside. "Mmmyes, we've just covered that. GUN's foolishness comprised of sending you three: too little, too late. Isn't that right, Omega?"

Shadow's heart rate spiked at the question, much to the doctor's amusement. The hedgehog's ex-teammate stomped into view. Eggman had put a strange crown-like device on Omega's head. It didn't take much for Shadow's hopes to crash.

"AFFIRMATIVE."

Seeing that Shadow's vitals continued spiralling out of control, Eggman turned a dial on the remote. His eyelids grew lax in an instant as his blood pressure returned to normal. The hedgehog realised that Eggman had complete control over what he felt, but he couldn't force himself to be upset about it. The part of the brain responsible for the sensation had gone numb.

"That's your second mistake. Depending on the brute force of one of my inventions. It's as if you haven't heard of over-the-air patching!" Eggman chuckled at his own joke.

Rouge wasn't laughing. She was lying on her side, trying to avoid making eye contact with Shadow. "And the first one?"

"He's looking at you right now. How do you feel, Shadow?"

Bubbles rose up from his visor. Eggman had rid him of the ability to respond.

"What's the matter? Bat got your tongue?" He laughed heartily before his expression grew solemn. Given his control over Shadow, it was a frightening grimace. "Truth is, you don't speak unless I tell you to. You exist because I allow it. Thanks to the wonderful technology in your ankle monitor, that I developed and sold to GUN under a false name, I know everything you can and cannot do." Then, Eggman motioned at the remote. "Allow me to demonstrate. You can neither breathe nor feed."

A tightness appeared in Shadow's chest after Eggman pressed a button. It spread upwards to his throat. The pressure made it apparent that there were multiple long tubes inserted there. He was suffocating, the stasis goo was flowing down his tongue, but his body was forbidden any acts of self-defence. At the same time, his hands and legs looked thinner because the apparatus continued sucking the blood out of him.

"But that doesn't mean others can't use you to feed and breathe. I've taken up farming, you see." Eggman laughed again as he pointed at the pale foetus-like creatures floating in other capsules. "Farming Shadows! Ah, the things I'll be able to accomplish when they ripen."

Eggman pressed another button on his remote and made all of Shadow's discomfort disappear. The tubes stemming from the visor resumed supplying Shadow with oxygen and sustenance. His limbs returned to normal. Shadow wished they didn't. If something bad were to happen to him, it could foil Eggman's plan, kill the monsters feasting on Shadow's blood while they were still defenceless.

To make matters worse, when he contemplated suicide, he could hear the monsters' voices in his head. They were copies of his voice, meant to eclipse his thoughts and replace them with their own mindless chants. They were calling for his return…inside. He wanted to shudder. He didn't.

"Black Doom could have had it all, but he made the same blunder your superiors did. I wouldn't be a genius if I didn't learn from their mistakes. In fact, I achieved great results by doing the opposite." Eggman snapped his fingers, prompting Omega to spring into action. "I didn't come knocking at the enemy's front door. I didn't send my best troops ahead of the army. I didn't strike first and, most importantly, I didn't give my enemies a reason to forge alliances."

Omega restrained Rouge and brought her up to Shadow's pod for him to see. Tears were rolling down her cheeks, yet she couldn't find it in her heart to cry. She mouthed one phrase on end: "I'm sorry."

"No one can help you. No one even knows what's going on! And those who do…they don't care! Rouge, tell Shadow that you're working for me now."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry…"


	9. Teeming Dark

**Chapter 9: Teeming Dark**

Eggman chortled at Rouge's fit of panic. "'Sorry' won't cut it anymore. You were sorry the day you selfishly spent the last continue token Team Dark had when I bailed you out."

The words seemed to echo in Shadow's head. He wasn't sure anymore. The voices made it difficult to focus. He was flashing between the conscious world and the gruesome images from within Pleasure Castle's crawling infestation.

"Tsk. Such gross inequity. Omega, why don't you show us how does it make you feel?"

Rouge fidgeted in Omega's tightening grasp, desperate to get out. Her struggles ended as she felt the cold metal claws slice into her clothes, about to do the same to her skin.

In Shadow's blurry vision, she resembled a white-headed maggot whose name slipped his mind. It probably wasn't important and he could drift further into a blissful sleep, away from machines forcing chemicals down his throat or sucking the blood from his limbs. The world he'd become a part of after retreating from this nightmare was a much better place. By letting it happen, Shadow would rise above his physical limitations; he wouldn't have to think, feel or breathe anymore. Everything holding him back would disappear to let him focus on the one thing that mattered, his garden of life.

Whimpers mixed with maniacal laughter did nothing to the process that began at the press of a button. The murmuring current that eroded Shadow, pulling his consciousness out of his body, told him to ignore and forget. He didn't need bridges to the outside world. He needed to feed the life in his garden with his blood.

He felt it streaming from his limbs through the veins that punctured the castle's walls. The Ultimate Life Form didn't waste a drop, his extensions as perfect as him. Though, he could still smell and hear crimson clotting outside. Somewhere, something had gone wrong. His perfect children were hungry and he couldn't let their food go to waste.

Shadow tracked the loss to a nearby vessel. It used to be a part of the garden, but was now wasting away on the floor. What startled him was that he couldn't salvage the body back inside. It was held in the air by an external force, a violent force squeezing the life out of the vessel.

"Help me," the blood begged him. The sadness its dying warmth contained shook the whole garden.

Then, Shadow remembered. He would take her back.

"What you say?!" Shadow threatened via the speaker.

Hearing his own voice distorted by the equipment attached to his stasis capsule disillusioned him. As long as Eggman had the remote, Shadow's threats would fall on deaf ears and he'd have a better chance trying to appease the doctor.

The defiant display amused Eggman. He glanced at the readings of Shadow's vitals before facing Rouge with a smug grin. He opened his mouth to speak only to be interrupted by a sorry cry.

"Please, no! I'll do anything."

Shadow stared at Rouge flabbergasted. Was this pathetic creature unwilling to look him in the eyes really his teammate? What changed her so drastically? The hedgehog was glad to be paralysed for once; he could hide his disappointment from Eggman, but that didn't do much to affect the doctor's arsenal of torture.

"In that case, you will betray your friend once again and pledge your allegiance to me," Eggman said. When Rouge failed to respond, he snapped his fingers, prompting Omega to clasp his claws together. "I insist."

The look in her eyes, pupils darting in terror until they met Shadow's own. For a heartbeat, they became amiable, familiar, and Shadow wished they could tell him more. More than her blood that Eggman was going to draw more of. Shadow didn't know what she was up to and he feared that neither did she.

When Omega put the squeeze on Rouge using both of his arms, Shadow realised that she was contemplating the unspeakable. The robot's brutality was Eggman's trump card supposed to force her to knuckle under. For Team Dark to die, every member had to break away and Eggman intended for Rouge to become the crown jewel of his victory. She was the leader who cemented the team, acting as the voice of reason to her unstable friends. By breaking her body and spirit in front of the others, he'd force them past the point of no return to be moulded into thoughtless machines, enforcers of Eggman's will.

It was why getting but a muffled scream out of the bat enraged him. She was supposed to proclaim her undying devotion to the Eggman Empire by now! The calculating pragmatist at her core should have seen that and thrown the fate of Team Dark to his mercy. Resistance was futile! Eggman had the overwhelming force to guarantee it.

But he didn't want to give rise to martyrdom. Hence, Omega took it slowly despite being able to crush the bat into fine paste. She'd give Eggman a reason to cheer. She had to! Or her ribs would crack while Omega squeezed her like a lemon.

Tears streamed down her face while she shook her head, mumbling incomprehensibly. Eggman's scowl gradually melted away. She was almost there, starting to see sense in his appeal and sacrifice her bond with Shadow. The look of acceptance in her eyes was unmistakeable. Eggman was going to win!

"We're listening, Rouge! Shadow wants to hear you loud and clear! Or should I tell Omega to motivate you with more gusto?"

The answer came in the form of red spilling from between her squeezed lips. Her face looked painfully swollen as if she was choking. Having X-rayed her, Omega paused and turned to Eggman for further orders, confused. Rouge's capture had unintended consequences.

Eggman didn't let up. "What's the matter? Bat got your tongue? Spit it out!"

She could barely hear his bark with the pain clouding her senses. Her mouth was full of blood, but she registered that only when Omega put his pincer-like fingers at the edges of her jawline and forced her lips apart. The robot was no gentle operator.

Rouge let out a feral scream, covering Eggman's suit in red spittle. This didn't seem to annoy him, as Eggman merely took a piece of cloth to clean his glasses and chuckled at what he saw. As long as Omega kept his claws there, it was impossible for her to close her mouth to end the humiliation.

"You bit off your own tongue?!" Eggman shouted boisterously.

Omega lowered her to the doctor's level. Rouge expected him to rage at her defiance. Seeing the contrary frightened her. It could only mean her part was far from over.

"That's hilarious! Bat got your tongue! Bwahahaha!"

Bitter tears mixed into the slobber dripping down her chin. Eggman turned her attempt at heroism into a joke that she didn't have the physical capacity to object to. Unwittingly, she had relinquished control of her suffering to Eggman. Without his say, she was no more than a wailing corpse.

"But that's not why I find it amusing," Eggman continued, rubbing his palms together while he walked around Omega to marvel at her capture in full. The power he now possessed excited him. "Since you've elected not to speak, you will listen…and obey. After all, you did say you'd do anything, which is fine; actions speak louder than words and you're going to get some action tonight! Any objections?"

Omega forced her mouth shut, making her unable to scream her lungs out at the way he twisted her conviction. Eggman put his palm to the side of his head as if listening closely and walked up to her. His grin widened with every passing second.

"Your silence means consent."

The doctor then turned to his second captive. Shadow has been watching the macabre scene with disgust, sickened by more than just Eggman's evil. Rouge had chosen silence over clearing her name and rid herself of the ability to reject Eggman. He failed to see the heroics in Rouge's self-mutilation.

"Ah, Shadow, my friend. I was going to reward your…associate – because it's difficult to call her a friend at this point – for her services with the emerald you have at your feet, so she could walk away while you shrivel up and die, but…" Eggman paused to relish the spike in Shadow's pulse, "she deserves so much more. Omega, if you please."

Shadow kept his eyes focused on Eggman, but he still registered what was going on with Rouge in his peripheral vision. Omega smashed her into the floor. A meaty cracking noise preceded her cries.

"Why?" the hedgehog asked Eggman.

He said nothing while Omega picked her up to repeat the action. This time, only laboured breathing could be heard.

"Answer me."

Eggman folded his arms in wait while Omega prepared for another blow. Shadow knew it would be the one to bring deafening silence. As much as he hated the idea, he wouldn't repeat Rouge's mistake.

"Please…no more."

"Ha-hah! And there's the magic word! Take five, Omega."

The brutality stopped. Omega held her up above the ground by the wings like a ragdoll. A ragdoll in dire need of repair.

"Rouge said she would do anything. What is your offer, hmm, Shadow?"

So those were the rules of his game. After everything Eggman had done to them, he still wanted more. Shadow didn't know a vehicle of expression strong enough to relay his hatred. It wasn't a matter of sedatives or other chemicals mixed into the stasis fluid he was floating in, no. Punishment, the severity of which would absolve the doctor from his misdeeds, simply did not exist. Burn as he might, Eggman's mark would remain, but that also meant Shadow didn't have to restrain himself in any way.

"I ceded control of my body to you. I let you decide what I see and feel, but you have no influence over the others."

Eggman perked up an eye ridge. "The others?"

The answer came in the form of an earthquake as all the other capsules glowed brighter. Muddy footprints started appearing on the floor even though there was no one there. The closer they got to Eggman, the quicker the pace was.

"INTRUDER ALERT."

Eggman paid no heed to Omega's warning. He waited for the footprints to reach him and, just as he had expected, they stopped in front of him without causing any harm, barely stirring the air. Eggman laughed.

"Is that all you've got?"

"That wasn't me. But this…will be all of us."

The nightmarish illusion that awaited Shadow was a small price to pay for the power it offered in return. As soon as Shadow closed his eyes, the blood circulating throughout the castle in hypertrofied veins became a part of his consciousness, one looking for expansion in revenge.

Blood vessels burst from the floor, trailing the footprints while growing in size as they approached Eggman. Rather than stop next to him, they coiled together, divided and merged until they resembled the throbbing shape of Nack the Weasel, whom he had tricked into succumbing to the castle's organic infestation.

Eggman retreated from what he saw, but for every step he took, the weasel made took two by tearing through the solid floor. Disoriented by the earth shaking, Eggman lost his balance and fell, looking up at the creature of blood and no flesh. This wasn't a part of the plan…

"What is this? What are you?" he asked, panic evident in his voice.

"A friend ready to return the favour," Shadow replied. His voice seemed to be coming from the monstrosity in front of Eggman rather than the speaker in his stasis pod.

Seeing that the fake weasel was about to lunge at Eggman, Omega took the initiative by opening fire. Nack's body offered no resistance to the bullets, letting them tear right through until it couldn't maintain its shape anymore. He disappeared in a burst of red, splashing all over the doctor.

"Ack! I've been contaminated," Eggman cried as he desperately tried to clean the blood off of his face. "Where's my remote…" He looked behind and saw a vein bursting through the floor. Another one, much thicker than before, rose up from where Nack used to stand.

They were encircling him and Omega didn't have the firepower to fend off the infestation. Eggman's genius was required to rein in the monster gone rogue by taking on its only weak spot, the heart.

"I have no time for games. Cease this foolishness or she will die!"

As his threat echoed around the hall, the veins stopped advancing, their movement reduced to a rhythmic pulse. This gave Eggman a window of opportunity.

"INTRUDER ALERT!"

Omega started firing everywhere at random. The stray bullets damaged occupied capsules, springing leaks, and agitated the blood vessels. Perhaps, Eggman had made a mistake by keeping Omega at his side. The control module on the robot's head made it possible to order Omega around, but the AI still acted unpredictably.

"Stand down!" Eggman shouted angrily. He saw the bulging red appendages dominate the walls and turned to Shadow, whose physical shell floated in stasis. "But if you behave…I'll heal her. I promise."

Gradually, the mass withdrew from the hall and the rumbling quieted down. Eggman had made the right move and got one in return. It was his turn again. As soon as he pulled the remote he sought after out of a pool of viscera, Eggman limped his way to Rouge while glancing at Shadow's vitals. The remote was damaged, so he couldn't risk upsetting the hedgehog.

"That's right. Pick her up, Omega. Gently. I know how to fix her up right away," he cooed. Omega did as instructed, making Eggman wish the remote behaved likewise. It took a good shake to get it working again. Eggman grinned.

Judging by Shadow's heartbeat, he was growing impatient. Thankfully, it was the worst he could do now that Eggman's machinery injected Shadow an elephant's dose of sedatives. Eggman wanted to immortalise the stupid look on Shadow's face when he would receive the coup de grace.

"You insolent hedgehog, you thought you could outsmart me," he sneered. "We'll have to put an end to this line of thought…and give you a whole new direction." As he fiddled with the remote, the lights dimmed down. "Rerouting all power to the Black Egg Obelisk. Activate."

A low-pitched boom that came from somewhere in Twinkle Park shook the castle's walls. It was strong enough for everyone to feel the vibrations in their lungs.

The surroundings kept getting darker still until Omega's eyes were the only source of light. Slithering could be heard in the shadows.

"I think it's high time for you to embrace a new reality, one I have reserved for all opposition, a never ending nightmare that will power my empire," Eggman's voice echoed whilst the slithering intensified.

When the lights returned, Shadow was mortified to see his reflection in the stasis pod's glass. He regretted being given a fleeting moment of clarity that allowed him to witness his horrors crawling into the real world. Eggman's machines no longer restrained him, but he couldn't move a muscle because alien veins cut into his flesh directly, replacing the needles.

The castle's infestation began consuming the hedgehog-like creatures in the other pods, turning them into bulging cancerous growths. They expanded in size to the point their capsules couldn't hold them in.

Shadow realised his own body was undergoing the same process. The tighter the blood vessels wrapped around his limbs, the more apparent it became that the infestation was going to consume him whole.

The crawling tension under his skin contorted his face while red glazed over his eyes from his blood vessels expanding inside. The last thing he saw was Pleasure Castle giving in to the infestation, rock being replaced by flesh, ready to spread outward.

Blind and breathless, he continued sensing the writhing advance inward from the formless mass that used to be his limbs. The voices coming from the other pods grew louder with every inch the mass swallowed. They encouraged him to fight, to struggle as violently as he could and feed the garden more adrenaline. His thoughts tangled up with theirs, making it difficult to discern where he was or what was happening to him. From the horror of powerlessness to the bliss of being shaped into a part of a greater whole, his consciousness cracked awash with alien sensations.

"But there is consolation for you, Shadow," Eggman quipped. "You are at the very core of this nightmare and you will experience everything first-hand. Every cry for help, every tear and memory of those devoured will be purged through you until the other Shadows mature. Then, I will have enough living catalysts for my Black Egg Obelisks to terraform reality of the whole world. Embrace this dream, Shadow, because you will be the world's sandman."

Eggman cackled at the sight of his enemy dissolving into an obedient tool of conquest. He owned Omega and Shadow, but his victory was incomplete. Rouge, the hopeless carcass twitching on the floor remained a threat. For them to permanently remain in his power, she had to vanish. The solution he came up with was so ingenious he couldn't help basking in its afterglow: have Rouge's ex-teammates do it for him.

"Starting with her… Omega, put her in the pod!"

* * *

Author's note: I like reviews. Put them in the pod~


	10. Divide and Conquer

Author's note: I recommend _Severe Medication_ by Two Steps From Hell. Get worrying.

* * *

**Chapter 10: Divide and Conquer**

Eggman relished Shadow's cries for mercy. The hedgehog didn't care about his own life; he wanted to protect Rouge. The difficulty with which Omega was carrying out his task made it obvious that the robot was also aware of what was about to happen.

"INTRUDER ALERT! ERROR-ERROR!"

The machine's rebellious programming could writhe all it wanted, but Eggman would have his way. He would feed Rouge to the nightmarish mass corrupting Pleasure Castle and dissolve the rest of Shadow's consciousness at the same time. Team Dark would be no more.

"Quiet!" Eggman bellowed.

He pointed at a vacant stasis pod and glanced at Shadow's vitals. The readings were meaningless, as the castle's infestation had already consumed most of the hedgehog, making his limbs look like tumorous growths. When the hypertrophied veins siphoning the energy from the marrow of Shadow's bones expanded to his chest, Eggman saw the plan come closer to fruition with every beat Shadow's heart skipped. The hedgehog still thought he could fight this process, but his rush of adrenaline accelerated it. Eggman laughed at the futility and patted the glass Shadow was floating behind. As long as the Chaos Emerald continued feeding him, Shadow's blood would help the infestation spread throughout Station Square.

"I promised I'll heal her. You can trust me to keep my promise…and I trust that you'd love to have her back in the flesh. Eat up!"

Omega chucked the unconscious bat into the pod. Stasis fluid poured inside, raising her battered body. Before the tank could fill up, though, veins burst through the floor and coiled around her feet. Attracted by the warmth radiating from her wounds, they quickly found a way to rip inside her and begin the conversion Shadow was going through, only much quicker.

"Please, take her out. You…can't…control this," Shadow's voice came from the speaker. His face, spasming from the engorged blood vessels under his skin, was barely distinguishable from the surrounding mass.

"I beg to differ. With the Black Egg Obelisk in place, there is no room for more accidental mutations such as yourself."

Shadow's bleeding eyes twitched at the insolence. "Accidental?!"

The villain replied in a calm manner, "Prolonged exposure to other life forms and their genetic material is responsible for the mutation that made you immune to Black Doom. You were supposed to accomplish your mission and return to sterile containment, but you chose to squat in the mud like the rest of them."

Slithering and wet gushing sounds replaced the cries Eggman was used to hearing from his prisoners. The so-called Ultimate Life Form fell in the trappings of his own DNA and Eggman couldn't wait to see the effects it would have on Rouge. The damage inflicted on her body made the veins surrounding her behave differently.

"Your choice, your ability to choose was an oversight on Black Doom's behalf, which I'm not going to repeat. You may have destroyed a prototype of the Black Egg Obelisk back at my research facility, but you've since given me more data than you can imagine. Thanks to the useful idiots who subjected themselves to your blood as well as their guinea pigs in Station Square, I've documented every possible mutation, every way your blood can interact with other life forms. No creature, past, present or future can escape my rule."

Once a vein squeezing around Rouge's neck found its way to her bloodstream through the wound at the base of her tongue, she shot awake for a second only to witness an invasive pulse distort her vision. Her convulsions didn't last long enough to show the dread she was experiencing while control over her own body was being taken away from her. Rouge slipped into unconsciousness again, letting the crawling morass swallow her.

"Chaos…" Shadow whispered at the sensation.

"I don't think so. Let's go, Omega. I have a gift for the Station Square blood bank."

It was hopeless. Rouge was already inside the garden while Shadow clutched onto the real world with the last of his strength. He knew the aggression was only making the situation worse, but he refused to go down without a fight. In the worst case, the illusion would use the power it's been sucking out of him this whole time to pull him in with a single lurch. He wouldn't feel a thing.

Frankly, he didn't want to. All the outside world had to offer was a constant fight against misery. Hated by the humans, misunderstood by his allies…did Shadow even have a reason to go back to his past life? The unending kindness everyone experienced in his garden marked the beginning of an existence as perfect as he was. And now, he could share this kindness with her.

Shadow felt reluctant to embrace her this way. He was dominating her mind, body and soul to scatter them across every heart beating inside. If she was everywhere just like him, no one would be able to take her away from him.

The transition was painful, yet necessary for her to transcend her broken physical shell. It would be discarded, purged through his bloodstream like all the evidence of her previous life. For their perfect bond to be eternal, both had to forego the temporary.

As images of a past long gone flashed through his mind, the garden shook as if struck by pain. Past victories, high fives and fond moments with her made Shadow cringe as he filtered them through the furnace of collective consciousness.

They were now closer than ever, more intimate than Shadow thought possible, yet in this closeness he was extinguishing her bit by bit until he encountered a request. It didn't come from Rouge, though. Another heart, the one that used to be called Nack the Weasel, implored him.

Rouge's silence. The humiliation she had gone through during her final moments had to be erased along with everything leading up to it…starting with the assault on Eggman's research facility.

The villain had been poisoning the environment on purpose. It was a ploy to capture Team Dark all along.

"Divide and conquer," Eggman had told Rouge that day.

Battered and bruised by a chemical explosion that separated them, she was at Eggman's mercy. The odds were stacked against her, but Rouge wouldn't bend even when her wings broke. Eggman had exquisite torture in store for the one person he thought responsible for the destruction of his latest invention. The Black Egg Obelisk's prototype, a monument made of material akin to the Black Comet's crust, fell apart before his eyes. Without it, he couldn't impede Team Dark's progress with nightmarish hallucinations. Her teammates would rescue her. She had no reason to fear Eggman's threats and she had been used to the pain that came with them.

The words rang again, "Divide and conquer."

Eggman had realised then that in order for her to break, the damage would have had to fall on the whole team. He couldn't have tried this method with Omega, who was shown fighting an endless sea of Badniks, swarming at him from all directions. Nor he could have blackmailed Shadow, who would have preferred a spiked security door to crush his spine. While the Chaos Emerald he had dropped remained out of his reach and hallucinations disturbed his consciousness, he wasn't a fitting subject to be reasoned with.

Badniks could have blasted open Omega's chest plate to fire straight at his power core and the robot wouldn't surrender. Shadow could have lain in a puddle of blood without realising he was about to be sliced in two.

Rouge, on the other hand, possessed the intelligence to know death was a worse deal than betrayal. In fact, it wasn't betrayal if they were dead without it. All she had to do was play along and their joint torment would cease.

Eggman had possessed boundless generosity that fateful day. He was ready to stop just short of massacring everyone on one condition: that Team Dark stayed out of his hair for a spell. It was an easy offer, with no strings attached.

Other than the safeguards Eggman had committed to, so Rouge would make good on her word for once. Like taking Omega hostage and being able to track the others' every move. A small price to pay for salvation.

"Divide and conquer," Eggman had whispered in her ear before disappearing.

Her rescue had come just in time. Shadow had managed to reach her despite leaving a trail of blood with every step he took. It had been the first time she tasted his blood coming from his lips and he tasted hers. Neither could have explained why they kissed, preferring to blame it on the Black Egg Obelisk's effects. She had been too sorry and he – too ignorant.

Until now.

The garden couldn't burn through Rouge's memory. It became entwined with Shadow's own while the episodes from her life filled the gaps of what was really going on in his. Instead of dividing them for good, Eggman cemented their relationship.

A glimmer of light tore through Shadow's hopelessness. It was so intense he could see it with his eyes, yet it didn't hurt him at all. He saw the light of a Chaos Emerald floating next to him. Shadow knew what he had to do.

Omega's claws switched to missiles. "INTRUDER ALERT!"

"What is it this time?!" Eggman roared. First he glanced at the readings on his remote control. He didn't believe what he saw, so he looked at Shadow's stasis capsule next. A shuriken was stuck on the "Release" button. "Oh my stars…manual override…manual override…" the man mumbled when he realised the same had happened to every other capsule. Their control modules were short-circuiting. Someone had sabotaged his equipment! "Argh! Don't just stand there, Omega! Annihilate!"

Missiles flew in a tight barrage as Omega's upper half turned around its axis. They never reached the target, though, exploding in mid-air so close the blast wave knocked Eggman off of his feet. Omega encountered a force he could not fully understand.

"Chaos BLAST!"

A red and black streak busted through all the pods, popping the hedgehog-like alien foetuses into putrid slime. The veins that had taken up most of the hall shrivelled up or retreated underground. Eggman was furious to see the tools of his conquest falter.

"Fire-fire-fire! Don't let them get away!"

While Omega loaded up another round of explosives, the streak circled around Eggman until he was caught by the current and spinning face-down on the floor. Then, it went for Omega. The dizziness didn't stop Eggman from hearing the outcome: a series of smashes followed by a resounding boom. Missiles intended for Shadow jammed, detonating inside Omega's launchers. Disarmed and battered beyond mobility, the robot fell.

Shadow stood victorious on top of Omega's torso, Rouge cradled in his arms.

Eggman couldn't believe his. She was supposed to be dissolved down to her DNA and he shouldn't have had the capacity to move a muscle without life support. The Chaos Emerald that Eggman had entrusted their destruction to proved itself an ally as unreliable as the beasts it powered.

An electric spark concentrated in Shadow's palm. It grew into a brilliant Chaos Spear fuelled by his seething hatred for Eggman. "Let me tell you something about control, doctor."

To his surprise, Eggman didn't cower in fear or beg for mercy. He got back to his feet and grinned.

"No, let me! You take one more step and I'll have Omega self-destruct."

Shadow was mortified. He should have attacked the villain first, not his robot guard. Even if Eggman was bluffing, Shadow couldn't take any chances; too much lay at stake.

"Wuahaha! You thought I'd let you claim my trophy? Fool! If I can't have it, no one can."

Shadow had to get his friends to safety before he could fight Eggman. Rouge needed urgent medical assistance whilst Omega's internal mechanisms were leaking oil and exhuming dangerous amounts of heat. Time was on Eggman's side and he had already called up an elevator to make his escape.

No! He wouldn't get away like this. There was no guarantee Eggman would let Omega go regardless of what Shadow did.

The hedgehog jumped off the robot to approach Eggman. "If you expect to make it out of here alive, doctor, you are deeply mistaken."

Eggman's chest rose as he refused to give up ground. "You'd rather take a life than save it? Black Doom should be proud." The chuckle he got from Shadow in return cut his posturing. Shadow didn't have it in him…didn't he?

"For a self-proclaimed genius, you missed the point by a long shot. A robot can be repaired. Dead meat can't."

There he was, trembling with trepidation in front of an opponent who saw the man's demise as a matter of personal gratification. The look in Shadow's eyes exposed him as the killer that he has been created to be, not bound by ethics or morals. Eggman could not reason with such a beast and, with Rouge incapacitated, he had no one willing to listen to a plea.

If it wasn't about serving justice, Shadow's bloodlust had only one answer: decisive force. Eggman was a fluent speaker of this language and his intellect gave him an edge over the hedgehog. He laughed, albeit nervously.

"You think you have me figured out, don't you, hedgehog? As long as I have the Black Egg Obelisk up and running, you can't touch me."

With a flick of a switch on his remote, Eggman focused the obelisk's power down on Shadow. An invisible stream of energy pierced through the hedgehog, dissipating his Chaos Spear and breaking his concentration. At first, it felt like being repeatedly pounded in the back of the head. The ringing in Shadow's ears and the disfigured colours were persistent nuisances he could endure. Eggman stood a spindash away. Shadow just had to put Rouge down and go for it.

The task sounded much easier in his head. Shadow stumbled on the spot, disoriented and numb from the Black Egg Obelisk's rays. Just as he thought it was the worst Eggman could do, he felt heavy like the time he fought Amy.

Shadow's eyes lit up with rage as he realised what was going on: he had gone numb because the obelisk's influence had penetrated the barriers he had set up in his mind and could now alter his perception of the world. Shadow was slipping, sweat streaming down his forehead when he fell to his knees. He started breathing through the mouth in loud gasps without realising it.

In the meantime, Eggman felt on top of the world. He snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and was holding the future of Team Dark hostage. Seeing that Shadow trembled like a dying newborn, Eggman found it safe to approach him and make his undoing nice and personal.

"I've been wondering what would happen if I channelled the energy intended to enslave the whole city into the feeble mind of one fetid furry fleabag," he said and poked Shadow's forehead.

Images of biting Eggman's hand off and massacring the man's corpse swirled in Shadow's head. He wanted to growl and hurl abuse, but he could barely muster a whine while hyperventilating.

"That's why I made this dial. See?" Eggman pointed at a part of his remote.

The dial was set to half capacity, which made Shadow's heart sink. Things were about to get much worse for the hedgehog. Eggman smirked at the unmistakable reaction and turned his attention to Rouge, prostrated at his feet.

"I expected Rouge to be the guinea pig in this experiment, but she's volunteering for something else now." Eggman grabbed Rouge's hand and put it on the dial. He grinned from ear to ear when the unconscious bat's fingers turned the dial to full capacity and twisted it off. "Whoops! She broke it…and she's going to break you, too! When the Ultimate Life Form starts making friends, it's a tragedy."

He then threw the remote in the air, cackling like a madman.

Shadow's pupils shrank to dots and his limbs gave in to convulsions while foam dripped from his mouth. It was a bleak reflection of the nightmare his haemorrhaging brain was locked into. A void of damnation hollowed out by an evil as pure as it was dedicated to the destruction of Shadow and all life on Earth.

It had a voice, and it spoke to him: "The prodigal son returns to the fold. He was lost and is found."

It had a name Shadow refused to utter. The name spelled his doom.

* * *

Author's note: Say it with me, dear reader! Say it in a review.


	11. In Doom's Shadow

**Chapter 11: In Doom's Shadow**

"You're dead. I killed you," Shadow whispered into the void.

It replied, "I am happy to see you again, son."

There was no one there. Shadow found himself floating in empty lightless space. He couldn't perceive anything else with his senses, but he still felt a presence as overwhelming as the darkness around him.

Shadow's quills tensed defensively, paranoia taking over. Even though a hallucination shouldn't have elicited such a reaction from his body, he found comfort in denial.

"This isn't real. You're not real! Just a figment of my imagination."

He fell silent at his own words, having unintentionally addressed the presence. It grew in intensity as if approaching.

"Know your place!" it roared from afar. The booming echo shook him and caused distortions akin to those one feels underwater. Ripples spread to his quills, rattling them, and the process didn't end there. "I will not allow my flesh and blood speak to me this way."

The pain that followed excluded the physical. As the voice resonated inside of him, numbness took hold of his limbs and trickled inwards, forcing Shadow to gradually cede control of his body. Bit by bit, his extremities betrayed him and started moving on their own.

When he lost perception of everything save for his face, a pair of scaly claws smashed into his cheeks. Shreds of Shadow's old gloves were stuck to their surface.

"W-what's happening? Let me go!"

Pressure coming from those claws seemed to mount to infinity, out to break his skull, yet the sensation didn't last a second as the numbness washed over his consciousness. The ripples reverberated in his head, letting him focus on nothing but the voice of his father.

"Our enemies tampered with your mind, Shadow. They forced you to put your past, your lineage behind you and set you astray. I am going to free you from their insanity and open your eyes to the perfect world. Our world."

The ripples eased down along with the voice to give way to something much more physical. Perception returned with an explosion of pain, muscles contracting in a seizure fit. Shadow felt a tightness in his chest and the sound of his own wheezing rang in his ears.

He shot up and looked around, panicking. The sight of an alien red sky blanketed with an endless sea of dark clouds spawning mindless, hateful creatures made him wish he was blind.

Shadow covered his eyes with his hands, only to find that it didn't block the view. The touch hurt even though his fingertips didn't seem to connect with his skin. Then, he realised his fingers have been converted into reptilian pincers. Their sharpness could pierce whatever they touched, but it did nothing to his eyes, protected by a hard outer shell.

He considered breaking it, tearing the eyeballs out to prevent his reflection from telling the unthinkable: he became one of _them_. A mutilated shape lacking feet, with scales instead of fur and dirty yellow sclera shining from the middle of his forehead, a black slit at the centre of a swirling red iris.

The third eye stole this reflection from a figure hovering next to him. Black Doom.

"You!" Shadow wished to exclaim, mortified when a hiss came out of the hole that used to be his mouth.

"Shadow!" he heard coming from behind.

That voice. He knew that voice. Deeper and less feminine than he remembered, but when he turned around and saw its bearer, the slit in his forehead widened.

"Rouge?" he asked the winged creature.

"Shadow!"

The tearful, longing embrace answered the rest while the sound of her heart beating into his chest pacified the chaos he was brimming with. Shadow closed his eyes and accepted her embrace in full.

"Rouge…"

Despite the bat creature's warmth and familiarity, the presence of another perplexed him. Black Doom circled them in tribulation like the hordes of aliens in the sky.

"Our family is united as one at last! With you in your rightful place, Eggman's demise is at hand."

He pondered Black Doom's words alongside Rouge's fond attempts of getting him to unwind. The conclusion he reached had him pushing the clingy bat creature away and facing Black Doom.

"There's just one problem. If this is our perfect world, why is Eggman a part of it?"

The leader of the black aliens laughed and lifted his arms high into the sky. "Because he's a useful idiot, just like you." With a feral roar, he called the aliens to swarm around him to be consumed and let him grow into a giant a thousand times bigger than Shadow. The aliens that remained converged on Shadow, trying to hold him down by any means. "The only way to control my flesh and blood, Shadow, is through my will. Eggman has haplessly sowed the seeds of my will by erecting Black Egg Obelisks across the globe. Through them, I control my flesh and blood. I control you and everyone like you!"

Legions of dark shapes emerged from all the elements, like locusts caught by the storm that became Black Doom. The ground rumbled and the skies shattered in lightning at their arrival. In all the chaos, Shadow found himself thinking about the one creature he considered out of place.

"Shadow…" she whispered to his mind, a light hiss escaping her toothless maw. She grabbed his hand in desperation while her alien eyes begged him to change his mind. It didn't have to be this way.

Shadow looked at her misshapen fingers wrapped around his palm, his claw returning the gesture, and the nightmarish deity towering over the land.

"If I am your flesh and blood, I can see your will extinguished," Shadow told all of them.

His indignation was met with thunder and laughter. "You are just a figment of my imagination. Behold!"

Movement stopped as Black Doom conjured a vision in front of Shadow. It was a red and black hedgehog foaming at the mouth, his bloodshot eyes emanating a yellow hue above a twitchy, delirious smile. The hedgehog managed to stand up and gather enough energy for a Chaos Spear while shambling towards a prone bat.

"Embrace the light of our perfect world, Shadow, while I see theirs into darkness and chaos. Starting with her."

Shadow's disfigured face could no longer show horror, but it didn't stop Black Doom from sensing the torment he was causing.

"I'd rather embrace the Chaos," said Shadow as he gave the bat creature's hand around his claw one last glance, "which I Control."

The vision dissipated at those words, erased from within by the blinding force in the hedgehog's hand. At the same time, the world Black Doom had offered Shadow crumbled. Along with the bat creature next to Shadow, the light swept everything away, not leaving a trace of darkness behind.

The nightmare rejected the power Shadow wielded, pushing him out of the planet, the galaxy and the entire universe he became anathema to. He was the ray of light that escaped from a black hole.

"Consider your actions, Shadow. Their fate is an eventuality. You cannot prevent this future!" Black Doom's voice beckoned him.

"I doubt a figment of your imagination would show consideration."

Physical sensations trickled back in. There was pain. So much pain. Shadow's head was burning up. He couldn't open his eyes yet, but it was obvious that he'd gone past the lowest point and was subjected to seeing emptiness instead of an illusory world.

"So, you've made your choice? Because I've already made mine: you will watch as I destroy the world you cherish the same way you destroyed mine."

The emptiness gained colour. Red. Contours pierced through the unblinking void, giving way to the halls of Pleasure Castle, an unconscious bat in a pool of her own blood and a Chaos Spear seeking release from his arm.

Eggman cackled in the background. "This is the ultimate pain. Revel in it while your brain literally melts inside your skull!"

Shadow had too much power stored in the energy bolt to make it disappear, yet too little to regain full control over his limbs. Froth was still dripping from his grimace and he could only slow the twitchy movements directed towards ending Rouge.

Crimson droplets fell from his face into the pool stretching from her body. The pulsating agony, the convulsions and the blurred vision he didn't know he could trust…getting out of the fever dream was meaningless if he'd lose what he wanted to protect above all else.

The hold Black Doom had over him was too strong. Shadow's arm tensed for a strike he couldn't stop. If he tried, his hand would defy him and Rouge would still be gone.

Disappointment runs in your blood, but if I were you, I'd move from anger straight to acceptance. It's time to wake up, Shadow thought to himself. Black Doom was listening. Black Doom was watching. Black Doom could see him now.

Shadow added his strength to the throw, everything he had, so his puppet master would be unable to react. Rouge had made her sacrifice and it was time Shadow showed her what was due. His arm curved back in, letting the Chaos Spear strike him instead.

He cried out and, through him, so did Black Doom. The numbness retreated fully, letting Shadow realise that he was bleeding from every orifice. Time was running out and he could already feel Black Doom's will starting to weigh him down again.

The will sowed by Eggman… The obelisk! Eggman used it thinking it gave him control over those somehow connected to Black Doom while, in reality, it gave Black Doom a window back into the physical world. Shadow would close this window if it was the last thing he'd do.

Shadow screamed from a surge of white hot pain that came the moment he considered warping. He managed to quench his own voice, but the madness inside his head only intensified. As he tried to remember the obelisk's location, he could hear singeing in his ears.

If he didn't do it now, the next thing they'd experience would be his brain leaking out. Black Doom threw everything he had to prevent Chaos Control, yet the torment only strengthened Shadow's resolve. Through clenched teeth, he called forth the power of Chaos to transport him to the Black Egg Obelisk atop the wisteria tree's resting place.

With every step he skipped, he was attacked with increasingly gruesome visions. Black Doom had infinite power in the realm he had ended up with. He wished to share this power with his next of kin and cast a new universal order. The imagery this order conveyed sickened Shadow. He had already received a taste of a future designed by Black Doom and he wanted nothing to do with its endgame. Such a fate differed little from Black Doom's own: restless and hateful, chained by immortality to claw at the corporeal realm.

Shadow regretted pondering such an end because it reminded him of what could have happened to him had he chosen to side with the aliens. What could still happen if he didn't put the past behind him…

"You have no right! You are mine! You are a part of me!"

On the outside, it was just a statue made of dark stone. On the inside, it was the key to unending suffering at the will of an immortal. Shadow clutched the Chaos Emerald tight in his hand and relayed the negativity Black Doom was channelling into him towards the gem.

It underwent repulsion as unquestionable as the emerald's power. The crimson brilliance of an all-out Chaos Blast swept the park, shattering the statue and razing all else that stood in its way. What the blast wave couldn't level, it set ablaze. In the distance, one of Pleasure Castle's towers collapsed on itself.

"Wrong. And I don't talk to statues."

Standing in the middle of the crater he had caused, Shadow closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of destruction. Water from the nearby pond trickled down into the crater to wash his naked feet.

Shadow picked up a piece of debris still hot from the blast and crushed it in his hand. Water and mud would carry the obelisk's molten remains into obscurity.

As he washed his face and wiped the exhaustion from his eyes, Shadow saw a city consumed by fire reflected by the water. The damage Shadow wrought was extensive, but Station Square's denizens would have to concede it was a necessary evil to restore peace and wither Black Doom away so he would no longer be a threat. The Black Egg Obelisk was history, just like any chance for the alien to return. Hopefully.

The humans would have to take care of the fires. Shadow had something else in mind he wanted to put out. He warped back inside the castle.

Large blocks of stone were falling from the ceiling. Impending collapse echoed from the other halls, another reminder of the costs of Shadow's recklessness.

Hatred flashed in Eggman's oculars when the hedgehog returned. Shadow was scorched, bruised but alive.

"How can this be?! Your brain should have melted inside your skull by now! No matter. You can't fight me…"

Shadow plucked away a blood clot left by a nosebleed. "I've surprised you once, doctor."

Eggman didn't like the interruption, "…and save your friends at the same time. What'll it be, Shadow?"

Wordlessly, Shadow examined the desperate doctor. All this time Eggman thought he had the upper hand, that everyone else was his pawn. It got him nowhere and Eggman didn't seem to be aware of this. Shadow freed himself from his illusions, yet the villain was yet to wake up. Thankfully, Shadow wouldn't have to sully his hands for it to happen. He picked up Rouge and turned his back on Eggman.

"Hmph. You continue being a disappointment to everyone around you." The doctor entered the safety of his elevator and started descending. When it was half-way into the ground, he grinned. "But not for long! Omega, self-destruct now!"

The crown-like device on Omega's head lit up. It had to be what Eggman used to control the robot. Shadow called for the Chaos Emerald to slow down time and kicked the control device off, sending it back to the creator before it overwhelmed Omega's resistance.

When the flow of time was restored, Shadow smirked to the sound of angry grunts from below and the sight of muddy footprints on top of Eggman's elevator. They were the same footprints that greeted Shadow on his first visit in Twinkle Park. Their owner had a penchant for shurikens.

"ILLOGICAL."

The droning criticism was music to his ears. Despite the light in his eyes blinking out, Omega had fight left in him. Shadow swore to make sure Eggman wouldn't get another chance to change that.

"Good to have you back, Omega," Shadow muttered ahead of transporting his team away.

Pleasure Castle lay in a pile of rubble moments after their departure. It was another painful imprint in the city's collective consciousness. Twinkle Park would never be rebuilt. Having been a host to an evil greater than a man's madness, the powers that be couldn't allow it.

Likewise, they couldn't allow Team Dark to carry on. A toxic asset turned into a walking threat, Shadow and his friends had to pay a price steep enough to change their ways. Two of them welcomed the hammerfall.

The other waited for it anxiously in Shadow's arms as he entered a GUN infirmary. Her teal eyes stole a glimpse of his gloom, prompting him to break eye contact. The next time he mustered the courage to face Rouge, her hands were already fondling him whilst her bloodied lips curved in contentment.

"My hero… I've seen everything," she whispered to him.

Shadow stopped in his tracks. "You-you did? How?"

Rouge dragged one of her exposed nails along a wound on her arm. Plots of clean freshly-formed skin stood out from the dirty fur around them. "It's your blood, Shadow. It keeps us…connected," she said and put a hand on his chest. His face wouldn't reveal it, but his heart thumped in excitement from the affection in her touch.

He looked forward, walking faster than before. "It's the reason you're in this mess. I can't risk losing you again."

The hand withdrew. It felt like Rouge shrank from his reaction. She had something heavy on her mind. "I…let you take that risk…so I wouldn't lose you to Amy."

Shadow perked an eye ridge. Rouge was clever enough to work it out without him saying a word.

"She was an accident. I didn't know my state was contagious back then…but we can put that behind us now!" she said boisterously. The pace of her recovery aided by Shadow's blood coursing through her amazed her nearly as much as the sensations Shadow was giving her without meaning to.

He didn't share her sentiment. Shadow marched on into ever more secure compounds, door after armoured door shutting behind them. It wasn't until she heard the humming of an activated stasis pod that she considered stopping him.

"Shadow…no. I'll be fine, trust me." She fidgeted in his grasp, trying to make him look at the process of her beautiful renewal in action. "You know I'm telling the truth. You can feel it now…"

"I'd rather trust you," he replied bitterly and placed her on an operating table.

GUN medical staff surrounded her to cut through the remains of her outfit and prepare her for the procedure. It didn't hurt and Rouge could easily dispatch them with a single blow, yet a pain-ridden expression persisted on her face.

"We're a team, Rouge. Omega, you and I. If I'm anything else to you, I don't wish to know or feel it…anymore."

A tear rolled down her cheek when she closed her eyes. She wanted to calm down and relax. She wanted many things, but the most important of them didn't want her. Rouge's breathing degenerated into gasps as she pondered her chances.

She could change his mind, even force him to. The people currently attaching a transfusion apparatus to her wouldn't have the physical capacity to think of opposing her. Shadow had no right to break their connection.

The more she thought about it, the more he scowled. Deep in her heart, she knew it couldn't work this way and so did he. In his mind, the only way to dispose of the nagging doubt was to cast it away, to forget. She couldn't accept his solution.

"After everything we've been through…what we've experienced about each other…" She swallowed the lump in her throat and groaned from the heartache his silence gave her. "Bastard!"

"I was hoping you'd understand."

Rouge whimpered as the medical staff dried her tears with a sponge. Shadow had fully withdrawn into his own little world. There was no reasoning with him. The moment she needed his support the most, his heartlessness showed its true colours.

Colours she'd rather cast away for things to be as they used to be. Hopeful.

"I understand, but I don't forgive you," she said. Tears continued streaming from her closed eyes when she was secured inside the stasis pod. "Have it your way, then: we're a team."

"Trust me. We are," was all he said before the machine knocked her out.

Shadow found refuge in a similar pod next to her. He looked at her one last time, his hand pressed against the glass as the capsule filled up. With her feelings filtered out of his system, he had to tend to his own.

_We'll put our past behind us, so we continue to be. Team Dark._

* * *

Author's note: Whatever you do, don't read the next chapter. Just pretend the story ends here and start writing that review. Curiosity is evil.

Thanks for being with me on this ride. Hope it's given you some serious giggles. And don't die. I'll want you back for my next fic.


	12. Exodos

Author's note: Kept reading past the end? Have a bonus, you rebel.

* * *

**Exodos**

A trail of her tears guided him into the dank cave. He found her curled up on the ground, rocking her head once in a while. She knew he was there, but preferred to ignore him. He only brought disappointment. He reeked of its scent.

"They took him. I can't believe they had to take him," she wailed, the cave's echoes acting as a chorus to her dismay. Amy sniffled and hugged herself tighter, either to warm up or feel pain. "It was my fault…he didn't tell me to stop and I…didn't stop. I didn't stop!"

She broke into a continuous giggle fit. Amy quivered as she laughed, having stayed out in the cold for so long. The cutesy noise came out mangled and died in a wheeze when her face hit the dirt.

Amy rolled onto her back, her face soiled with slobber and mud, the sunny peach gone from her cheeks. She stared upwards blankly, listening to the echo of her breathing. Her throat spasmed and the lump forming inside made it made every breath a pang she gagged past in her misery. There was no end to it, like to the tears pooling around her eyes. It didn't matter that she couldn't see anything in the pitch black cave. Colour had no meaning if she didn't have anyone to share it with.

A sigh escaped her lips. The passion in her longing was intoxicating, and he sometimes hoped it was dedicated to him. Even if her words proved otherwise, he wasn't ready to give up hope.

"Oh, Sonic…one day I won't have to stop and you'll be okay." She laughed like a child, ending it with a hum. "My delicious sweetheart."

When he heard licking noises coming from her direction, he took a stride forward. "Amy?"

Silence filled the cave. Amy lifted her head, allowing her messy hair to cover most of her face. It was the chameleon. He was carrying something with a bright red light.

The next thing he knew, he was slinking down to the ground while her hands coiled around him in search of something.

"Espio! I'm so glad to have you back. After all, you were my first," she cooed, dragging her fingers over his gloves. They were wet. "Who did you bring me this time?"

She sniffed Espio's gloves and bit into one of his fingers before spitting the fabric out, perplexed. Her muscles contracted, either from the cold or deprivation, which helped her tighten the grip on Espio. Disappointment wouldn't fade from her expression as she rubbed her dirty face over his shoulder.

"Just yourself…" she whispered. There was blood on his gloves, but it was beginning to clot. It wasn't enough. Espio knew better than that. Why was he doing this to her? He could sense the suffering she was already in.

Sniffling, she opened her mouth and bared her sharp teeth, the sole spot of brilliance for the red light to reflect from. Espio didn't fidget when the fangs tore through the skin that took so long to heal. He had the time to get used to it, which reduced the surge of ecstasy to a pleasant murr. The feeling of intoxication, while supposed to act as punishment, was something he craved for to achieve deliverance. In his view, Amy was doing the right thing by carving his flesh open and draining him of his energy. The memory, like the gap her teeth left when they were done with him, served a greater purpose, a sense of belonging. Body and soul. Those were the times he reduced her need for Sonic to a want. This knowledge let him share the bliss she felt while swallowing his blood on a different level.

She gnawed and squeezed at the wound to increase the flow more greedily than usual. The warmth in her embrace lulled his sense of self-preservation even when his consciousness started fading and the only thing keeping him upright was her lust for more.

Espio attempted to speak. He couldn't tell if any sound made it out of his mouth.

"Eggman got away, but I've found this."

An uncomfortable chill whisked over the wound, no longer in the care of her tongue, when her interest switched to the source of light in his palm, Eggman's remote.

"Presents! I love presents! What is it?"

Nothing seemed to happen when she pushed any of the buttons, yet once she turned a dial, Espio cried out. Amy noticed the source of pain was in his other hand, shaking violently. Despite his fingers being locked in position, she uncurled them with ease, disregarding the cracking noises. In his palm, she saw a dark rock. It was hot enough to singe through his glove.

"Ooo, a pebble…" She picked it up with two fingers, which immediately helped Espio ease up.

It had a smooth glossy texture despite being jagged. Amy loved the way the red light danced on its surface. The warmth she felt upon clutching it in her hand reminded her of the fondest moments she had with Sonic in the wisteria tree.

Amy sighed as she looked at its warmth eating into her hand. It tickled instead of hurting, which made her chuckle.

Having let go of Espio for him to fall lifelessly to the ground, she turned the dial on Eggman's remote higher and watched veins wiggle under her skin, popping to the surface.

"Oh my," she said in wonderment. She turned her hand, marvelling at the process extending from her fingertips to her shoulder, and maxed out the dial. "Don't stop. I don't have to stop!"

By that point, Espio didn't have enough energy in him to blink. The sight of Amy laughing uncontrollably while her shadow morphed into that of an alien monster was the last thing he registered before losing consciousness. He didn't need that where Amy was about to take him.

"Sonamy is forever."

* * *

Author's note: I can't believe you've made it this far. Seriously. This anti-spoiler chapter is bound to give you nightmares.


End file.
